Rental Showings + Coronavirus

[Matt Rutter]

Thought I would post this one the forum to see what the general opinion is.

We have a tenant whose lease is up at the end of April and we will not be renewing.

We've had a few renters interested in the apartment who have submitted applications. We coordinated with the tenant in advance about a showing this week, and received a message today that they would be more comfortable if we showed the apartment when they moved out given everything going on with the coronavirus. We're a husband and wife managing this and one other rental on our own and rely on monthly rent to cover the bills. While we understand the concern and want to be accommodating we can't afford to lose out on an entire months rent either. 

We are thinking of either A) letting them know we will be taking the necessary precautions to be safe and reduce exposure during a showing, or B) seeing if they can record a video tour, but it seems unlikely we'd rent it to someone sight unseen. 

How are other people handling these situations?

[Kelly N.]

We filmed video tours of all our occupied apartments that are on the market.  So far, I have one leased this way, and a second that watched the video and then wanted to see it in person before leasing- understandable since the video showed it unoccupied so it is harder to understand the size of the place.

I am not posting the videos publicly, but sending prospective tenants a link to view the video instead, at least for the videos that show the unit with the current furnishings in it. 

We did a few showings before things really locked down here, and confirmed the health and lack of exposure to the virus of both the current and future tenants.  I operated all the doors and switches, and wiped them down along with handrails with Clorox wipes before and after touring, along with providing hand sanitizer. I'm liking this enough that I may insist they view the virtual tour prior to scheduling an in person showing in the future, once things get back closer to normal...