All Forum Posts by: Rebecca Mickler

Thanks everyone for all the advice! To update, I talked extensively with my PM about the situation.  They said they always continue to list and show the property up and until move-in day regardless of a "hold" in case something falls through. They do however have to let any other prospective applicants know there is an application on the property if  asked. So after some back and forth, I agreed to a hold with a full month's rent as deposit and a lease date May 1. If another applicant is approved between now and then, the hold applicant has the option to sign the lease immediately to secure the property or withdraw and receive a refund. If the hold applicant just decides for some reason they're no longer interested, they receive a refund less a $40/day charge from the time the hold began. Waiting to hear back from the applicant. I would have liked to move forward with a no hold policy, but my husband is more conservative and made the "bird in the hand" argument. So we'll see how it goes! Thanks again everyone! BP has proven to be invaluable to me in many areas as I grow this business!

Thanks everyone. I'm reassured you all agree. And I also agree, Tony Gunter, about our PM. They are what I would consider very "tenant friendly". I battled with them about numerous items with the last tenant. I've have to essentially re-write this lease this go round to make sure I'm protected. May be time to revisit the PM.

Thanks Jon! My gut said the same thing but I wanted to make sure I wasn't making some giant newbie mistake. The rental market here is strong and the property is in great condition and 10min from downtown. 

Hello all,

I'm relatively new to REI and getting ready to re-lease my first rental property after a 3 year tenant. My management company sent me an email stating they had a "very qualified applicant" for my property. The prospective tenant, however, doesn't want the lease to start until May 8th. There have been several other inquiries on the property. The management company said they typically require a $250 hold fee to hold the property, but as long as the tenants signs the lease/moves in, the $250 is credited towards the first month's rent (it defaults to me if they bail, but the mortgage is $830). That leaves me footing the mortgage for a month when I could only pay 1-2 weeks if a different tenant were approved. Is that standard practice? My instinct tells me to require a non-refundable 1/2 month to hold it but I don't want to scare the "very qualified" tenant away. It doesn't seem advantageous to me from a business sense to eat a month's mortgage if I don't have to. What would you do? TIA for any advice! RebeccaM