Canceled Tenant appointments

[Fritz Ritter]

I’ve recently had a lot of potential tenants contact me about our apartment for rent . It seems like more times then not they all cancel and I end up wasting time driving . What are some ways I can stop wasting time ? How can I get them to stop canceling? I was thinking charging for a application fee before the walk through but never did because I feel like you need to see it in person before you pay for it . What are some of your thoughts ?

[Mike Wood]

@Fritz Ritter What I do is to make them confirm with a call of text the day of the scheduled appointment.  I explain that I want to make sure they are still coming and "I am not waiting for a ghost".  The line "waiting for a ghost" usually gets a chuckle, but they usually will let me know before the appointment if they changed their minds. I also find that let them know to text me helps, as it avoids them having to talk to me on the phone.  I also never schedule a showing via email with getting a confirmation of the showing date and time (to many online sources like Zillow and Truila allow applicants to request appointment but they will never follow thru.)

On my properties were I historically have more no shows, I schedule multiple showings at the same time, sorta like an open house.