Handling Inquiries & Phone Calls from Potential Tenants

[Matthew B.]

As a landlord, I dread the periods of time when I have a vacant unit to fill. Not because of the money or time involved, but because I know I'll have to post my phone number on Postlets.com and Craigslist and wait for the deluge of phone calls, text messages, and emails from people who want to ask me every question the ad already answers. 

In fact, I've received over 50 such inquiries in the past 36 hours, and every one of the questions I've been asked could have been answered by reading the ad. I even get unqualified people calling to see if I'll ease the minimum requirements just for them. After all, that battery charge happened over 5 years ago...

There has to be some sort of system I could put in place to provide some relief from the onslaught. I don't know if it involves a website, a Google voice number, or a virtual assistant. All I know is that I have to do something if I want to regain control of my cell phone. 

I'm hoping there are some property managers and big time landlords on this site who can share some advice. I will have 4 units becoming available in the next several months, and I want to work this out before then.

[Daniel Mohnkern]

I like the points made about simplicity and bullets, etc.  My suggestion, especially if you leave your phone number as an option for communication, always let an automated system get the call and, in your outgoing message, tell everyone straight up that, if they ask a question that was already addressed in your ad, they will not receive a response from you.  That way, they will either hang up without leaving a message, so as to actually read the ad, or they will be blacklisted.