Hi guys.
I just listed my first property for rent after being very selective. It's been about almost a month since I listed. I finally found what I thought was a good fit, the tenants were 2 brothers and a 16year old son.
One of the brothers had a 820 credit score, was a license plumber and worked down the port of Baltimore he cleared around 7-10k a month. He was currently getting divorced and his ex wife was buying
him out of the house so he needed to find a place asap. The other brother also worked down the port; he also cleared almost 7k a month and had a 676 credit score. My first interaction with them was
good one brother had rented from the same person for the last 5 years and had all his rent receipts of payments on time with him on the show. They filled applications out on rent spree everything
looked good but one brother did have a controlled substance charge 2 years ago which honestly looking back I thought they both had a look in their eyes like they were high on pills or something. They were very responsive when I texted
or called them answering right away . But one was a smoker. He said he would smoke outside and the other brother gave me assurances that he would 100% not smoke in the house . It was a non-smoking and no pet unit.
Well 2 days before lease signing I sent them all the things I needed done before signing. They weren't as responsive like I texted them in a group text 8am didn't hear back till 8pm had a gut feeling
something was off . But when they did respond they said they would take care of everything and asked if they could pay for the first month and security deposits with Zelle. so I thought maybe I'm
overthinking this, so the day before signing I'm thinking everything is on track. So I went against my better judgement that morning when I woke up before I had to leave for work. I declined all the other
applicants and took the listing down off the sites I posted to. I've been getting a lot of people reaching out daily. I texted them again that morning asking if they called Bge to switch over in their name and
to confirm they did it. nothing again till I call them around 3pm which again had another feeling something was off called the young brother phone the other brother answered i asked if they were able to take
care of the Bge he said at first not yet they would take care of it, then right after he said were having second thoughts about moving in so i asked why is that . he said he has a 7year old pit bull and he
knows this house is non pet and he was going to just bring it then try to work it out after the fact. also said he was going to look at another house as we speak. but they really wanted to move into my
house and they were willing to pay whatever was needed to make it right. I told him to go look at the other house and I'll think about it and reach back out later. At this point I'm thinking so the day
before move in they spring this on me already had another house lined up to go look at weren't even going to tell me. I think my judgement was clouded on how great these guys looked on paper with
the income and credit vs what i been getting so far and not to mention I'm a little strapped right now on money. But i felt if they were this dishonest and hiding stuff now imagine what's going to happen if they move in my place. So they looked at the other place
and texted me that night asking if it would still be possible to move in. I just texted them. I wish you guys the best of luck. I have learned a lot from our interactions and left it at that. not to mention
rental insurance would be hard to find for a pitbull and cost a premium amount if it did.
Things I learned
1 trust your gut and instinct you most likely aren't over thinking it if something feels off it just might be .
2. do not decline applicants or take your listing down before you have a signed lease in hand.
3.dont let how the people look on paper and your need to get some 1 in there cloud your judgment.
4. hope this can help some 1 learn from my mistakes.
