Potential Tenants Request A Month Wait To Lease Them Unit

[Mathias Kwadi]

I’ve got a middle aged couple who want to rent my 2 bed 2 bath, 900/ month in McAllen Texas. 

 However, they’re requesting I hold the unit for them for a month! Any suggestions, how to proceed?   it’s my first time dealing with such a request and I’m not sure the best way to handle the situation. Apartment has already been vacant a month and I’m unsure how to respond.

[Eachan Fletcher]

Hey Mathias - whenever I get this request I usually respond by letting them know they can move in whenever they want but, if they want to take the apartment, they need to lease it from today.  If they want to move in a few weeks after the lease begins that's up to them.

Ultimately you should always be pragmatic - if your market is hot and you're confident you'll rent it anyway, then I would go with this approach.  You could make some concessions like the other suggestions in the thread if you're concerned it will still be vacant a month from now.

Something else to consider - I have rarely had tenants start off awkward and unreasonable but later turn out to be great residents.  Not to suggest this request in itself is super unreasonable, but make sure you feel good about the fit overall.