Has anyone watched "Renters" on Netflix?

Question

I just discovered this show tonight and watched the first couple episodes. It's a "reality" show from New Zealand and follows multiple property managers as they inspect properties and deal with tenant problems.

They haven't shown anything far-fetched yet. In fact, I've had worse situations than anything they've shown so far. It's interesting that some of their problems seem to be self-inflicted. Examples:

1. PM notices a fire pit in the back yard. She says, "I told them to stop that." Apparently she never followed up because they continued to burn trash, put holes in the wall, break doors, and more.

2. PM inspects a house after tenant moves out. This was not an eviction; the tenant left at the end of their lease. Near the end of the inspection the PM mentions that all the living room windows were replaced because "she smashed them" and the glass stove-top was replaced because "she smashed it." Why did they replace the windows and the stove top but never evict the tenant? And why is the PM surprised that she left the house a mess after breaking multiple windows and a stove top in less than one year?

The show (and personalities) are somewhat bland but it's still entertaining.

Josh C. · Answer

James Wise No. It just got incredibly cold for about a week. People were actually living in most of the burst pipes calls. Crawl space vents got me. Our insurance company was booked out almost two weeks. We also had a break in of incredible proportions. The house had been broken into a couple times and we found a bag of the good stuff during clean out. So we installed a security system and cameras. They crooks pulled the electric meter off the house to kill power. Then cut a hole in the second story siding and came through the ceiling on ropes. Just to steal furnaces and water heaters!!!! Seriously it was straight out of ocean’s 11.

Hadar Orkibi · Answer

Well it's a show don't forget.... absolutely agree with Dean Letfus In NZ most of the tenants less destructive And Stay longer- most of my tenants are over 4-5 years. We do inspection every 3 months. The down side in NZ is the Tenants rights- not as bad as New York Or California But getting towards this!

James Wise · Answer

Wow! Imagine if those knuckleheads applied themselves to simply getting a job. They work so hard to avoid working. Usually working is just plain easier.

Al D. · Answer

Josh C. , our flip just west of the State Fairgrounds got hit three times in December. It was a death by a thousand cuts: 1. All kitchen appliances (did not have a refrigerator) and some staging stolen in the first one, along with vandalized furnace (what did the mother board do to deserve it?) and one kitchen cabinet. Majority of the staging was left behind in the back yard, and was put back after the first burglary. I had the project manager install dummy cameras. I also told him to get an alarm - whatever the cop who took the report suggested to him (the PM had allegedly wrote down the name of the system, and would order it.) I was not yet worried about replacing the furnace, as we went all pex in this major rehab. I suggested we take it off the market until all security is on - and return what’s left of the staging. The RE agent said we should stay the course. We did. 2. All staging stolen in the second one. They also stole the downstairs 1/2 bath’s toilet. They removed the electric meter (possibly because they saw the cameras) this time. The PM discovered that the meter was removed after the cops left. Days later, the cops came back to look for prints on the meter - none found, but I was impressed by the effort shown by the PD, as this was an exterior item, exposed to the elements, and, from my recollection, has a porous surface. I no longer waited for the project manager to get an alarm after this hit - I ordered a system myself to come to his house for him to install it - should have been simple. My partner and I again suggested we take it off the market. We stayed the course again, but did not replace the staging. 3. With the electric meter still off and the security system left in the house unconnected (reportedly, because it would not connect - though, under normal circumstances, it can work for a number of days without external power,) this time, the burglars stole the system’s base upon their entry (it was not hidden, as I had instructed the PM - but it was still useless, because it was not turned on.) It was also discovered then that the AC was gone. As additional proof of competency by the PM, he said it may have been gone during the first or second burglary - he volunteered that he didn’t check. I like honesty. The listing was taken off the market. The stager said that all of his area stagings have been hit multiple times in December. A neighbor got the license plate on the third burg - stolen vehicle. Each cut has been below our insurance deductible. The PM gets paid share of the profit - if any is left. Real bargain. Sorry, not an actual “property management” story, but since this post has gone into war stories, including in Indy, I thought I’d share.

James Wise · Answer

PM found a fire pit? Jeez this sounds like a freakin snooze fest!!!Last week at Holton-Wise the following happened.Dead body carried out of an apartment building. The kid moving into the building that day found it to be kinda strange, lol.Police called to a duplex due to tenants fighting over parking.10 Tenants evicted for non payment of last months rent.Owner of a vacant home in escrow instructed to turn on the utilities for an inspection. Owner turned on the water but not the heat. Water pipe burst. Causing several inches of water to flood the home, killing the deal.& then this amazing gem on Friday

Kyle Elmer · Answer

We've been asked to be on the show numerous times and flatly refused as it is a pure sensationalism of what actually happens here. I bet there are hundreds of hours of footage that are not 'TV' worthy for the editors. I would hope that it would be a complete waste of my time to be on when they have asked, as those kinds of events I could count on one hand that have happened to us in 11yrs so they would trail around behind us for days and then cut it all out of the edit!That is why it is often the same PM's that are featured on it all the time. They are the ones that feel the 15mins of fame is still worth an "any exposure is good exposure' type of marketing for them and so go with the flow of that type of editorial.

Dean Letfus · Answer

@Nathan G., yes you're right it is the way it's painted but it's not reality. I know property management companies with 2000 doors to manage who go 10 years without a single house being trashed.It just practically never happens. A lot of that programme is in what you would consider a slum area. Still it's entertaining!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

@Dean Letfus that may be your personal experience but it's not what's depicted on the show.I manage 300+ rentals and get a really big mess once a year, probably less. Every episode has shown multiple disaster homes and they're on Season 6.

Dean Letfus · Answer

@Nathan G., we don't get the damage in NZ that you Americans do. When I first started investing in the USA I could not believe the state of many properties. Getting a hole in the sheetrock in New Zealand is a big deal :-).

Thad McNair · Answer

@Josh C.What part of town was your "Ocean's 11" event?