Don't get me wrong, I don't think they're trying to be manipulative but an owner selling an apartment where people rent can spook the tenants.  

Maybe they tell the owner, "Y'know the property will need X, Y and Z just to pass code inspection", or something similar which spooks them into thinking, "Well, gee ...

I so want to do this deal but I am spooked by these guys.

Tenants do get spooked when properties are up for sale.  

I love my job, but after 6-8 years of working 9 am-9pm, I find myself on the eve of the last year of my 20's finally getting spooked about retirement, and the true gravity of what the future may hold especially with our current political climate.

But, I think the west coast will be hard hit in 2018 not because people don't want to buy houses, but because the Stock Market drop will spook buyers.

New construction by the way is one of many economic indicators that can hint were things are heading. 5 months of CONSECUTIVE pending sales decline in California sure is a sign of a cooling of some sort... right when it nears the 08 pop level is enough to spook the alert. 

I don't think the tenant realizes that they've spooked me and put me on the defensive, but I am definitely spooked and on the defensive.  

I was born in Ukraine, and moved to the states when I was 15yrs old.

I got spooked for nothing.