Schooled in the art of landlording

[Colin Carr]

As of 1pm today I had 7 showings for the property I had listed, 6 hours later I had 5 cancellations, a no show and 1 person almost a half hour late. I have a couple ideas as to why this may have been, but wanted to throw this out to the community and see if this is common, or did I blow it as a advertiser? I'm sure there is a lesson in here somewhere and need your help to spoon feed it to me. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. 

Colin

[Ryan Murdock]

@Colin Carr I often schedule as many showings as possible for the same exact time. That way hopefully at least one shows up. @Alex Deacon 's advice to have them call an hour prior to the showing also works well.

Hopefully you are doing some level of pre-screening over the phone before you even set up the showing. For example, do they have pets and you have a no pet policy? Are they kicking tires on a place to rent next fall when you are ready for immediate occupancy? Are they just now "looking for a job" and have no other means of income for a place you are trying to rent for $4k/mo? A few of the right questions can really weed out a bunch of people you don't want anyways. Be careful not to ask anything that violates any fair housing laws though.

I also don't wait any longer than 10 minutes past the appointment time. If someone's that late to a showing without letting me know I probably don't want them as a tenant.