When this blog published last Sunday, I had deposits down on both my empty apartments. Monday morning, one of my would-be tenants backed out of the deal.
But this time, I was ready!
I had to scramble to get this particular unit rented, because the tenants left with zero notice (see my two drama-filled posts about this here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/text-from-a-tenant-file-under-security-deposit-issues and http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/musings-over-social-media)
The unexpected move-out blew up an entire week of my life. I scrambled – the tenant moved out on Monday morning and I had a deposit in hand by 9:30am Thursday. But a lot of things got unceremoniously shoved aside to make that happen. Not just other work, but personal time. My healthy eating plan went out the window. I was working when I should have been hanging with my daughter. This working Mommy doesn't get enough personal downtime as it is – that week, I had none at all. I made a vow this would never happen again. And so I went to work tweaking my system.
Improvements to My System for Renting Empty Apartments
I put a system in place a few weeks ago that farmed out two of the jobs I absolutely hate: screening potential tenants over the phone, and showing apartments. Read about it here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/a-system-for-filling-vacant-units-rough-draft
The system worked like a charm – until I had that unexpected tenant move-out! My girl on the phone was OK with it. It helped that it was the other half of the double-block we had just rented, so she had quite a few pre-qualified prospects to call back. She works from a home office and was happy to take on another commission job from her desk.
My apartment showing person wasn't quite as adaptable to change. She is a dear friend of mine, but a bit prone to drama. And I heard about it every day on the phone, often more than once a day. She didn't like the unexpected change to her schedule, and her availability became an issue. I needed to get this apartment rented ASAP, so I could get back to my life; as a result I ended up covering some showings myself.
The final straw came when she called me triumphantly on Wednesday night to say she got a deposit. I was thrilled. The application and deposit money would be waiting for me at home when I returned from grocery shopping with my daughter.
The deposit was $500, which is short of the one month's rent I usually require. My friend said it was because that's all the prospect could get out of the ATM. OK, fine, whatever.
The application was woefully incomplete. No social security number. No previous addresses. The prospect received most of his income from Social Security disability. Proof of that income was included, but showed a previous address of Newark, NJ, which was not on the application. There was a check stub for a few very part-time hours at Lord & Taylor. The prospect indicated on his application that he worked 40 hours per week full-time. I'm pretty sure that if you're on Social Security Disability, you can't work a full-time job and still collect Social Security Disability.
I called the prospect on the phone number listed. I left a message. He called me back while I was cooking supper. Didn't leave a message. Called back again. No message. And again. Strikes one, two and three.
I called the number back and talked to what sounded like a severely mentally challenged young man. He was able to give me his social security number and verify his previous addresses. I told him I would need proof of his full-time income from Lord & Taylor. The SSI plus the part-time income on the check stub did not meet the income requirements for this apartment. He said he would get back to me.
I called my friend back and told her I wasn't so sure about this guy. He didn't completely fill out his application for one thing. She told me he didn't fill it out. His mother was with him and she filled it out. I hit my head down on my granite kitchen island.
I had a 9am showing the next day, and that man gave me a full deposit. So I had to call the SSI recipient and tell him he didn't get the apartment. Then I did the right thing and drove in to Wilkes-Barre to give him his $500 back. His family home was overcrowded. It looked like his mother was trying to push her grown disabled son out of the nest, and if she had to fudge his income a little bit to do it, what's the harm? I felt a little sorry for them, and I wish them the best. His income would have qualified for a one or two bedroom if I had one available, and I certainly would have rented to him.
Another emotionally and physically exhausting week, for sure! I decided this would never happen again. So on Friday I sat down with my weekly calendar and figured out times where it would be convenient for me to show the apartment, if I had to do it myself. I may still use my friend's sevices, if she promises not to fill me in on all the drama more than once a day (I've started sending her calls to voicemail, calling her back around the time she's making supper at night so she has to hurry off the phone. Is that being a bad friend?) The point is, if for whatever reason she is not available, I can cover the showings without any disruption to my life whatsoever.
From experience, I've learned that people like to see apartments right after work, around 5 or 6pm. Or in the daytime around noon but no later than 1pm. No Friday nights. Saturday later morning or noon. Sunday evening. So here's what worked with my schedule:
Monday 5:30 to 6:30, after my gym workout but before supper
Tuesday 11am – 1pm to get the lunch crowd
Wednesday 5:30 to 6:30pm
Thursday & Friday 11:30am-1pm (right after my yoga class but before lunch)
Saturday 10:45 to 1pm
Sunday 5:15 to 6:30pm
A nice mix of evening, daytime and weekend showings. I have them scheduled in 15 minute increments. There's no reason I wouldn't be able to rent an apartment in a week's time!
This new system was put to the test this week when my depositor backed out of the deal. He texted me late Monday afternoon. I was on the road, so I couldn't do much about it until Monday night. I let Sherri know so she could call some people back and start rebooking. I reactivated the ad on Zillow Rental Manager. The phones blew up. Remind me to buy more 3 bedroom per side double blocks as rentals if I ever start buying property again!
My first showings were to be Wednesday night. All five slots were booked. The first prospect was someone who had seen it before and was turned away because that guy put down a deposit before she could. She came with $750 cash. Her and her two housemates returned their completed applications yesterday. Pending approval, they move in September 1st.
I'm breathing easier this week. I didn't have to shove major portions of my life aside to get this apartment rented. And now I have all this free time I set aside for showings I no longer have to do – I filled that midday slot on Saturday over at the Kingston Pool!
But this time, I was ready!
I had to scramble to get this particular unit rented, because the tenants left with zero notice (see my two drama-filled posts about this here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/text-from-a-tenant-file-under-security-deposit-issues and http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/musings-over-social-media)
The unexpected move-out blew up an entire week of my life. I scrambled – the tenant moved out on Monday morning and I had a deposit in hand by 9:30am Thursday. But a lot of things got unceremoniously shoved aside to make that happen. Not just other work, but personal time. My healthy eating plan went out the window. I was working when I should have been hanging with my daughter. This working Mommy doesn't get enough personal downtime as it is – that week, I had none at all. I made a vow this would never happen again. And so I went to work tweaking my system.
Improvements to My System for Renting Empty Apartments
I put a system in place a few weeks ago that farmed out two of the jobs I absolutely hate: screening potential tenants over the phone, and showing apartments. Read about it here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/a-system-for-filling-vacant-units-rough-draft
The system worked like a charm – until I had that unexpected tenant move-out! My girl on the phone was OK with it. It helped that it was the other half of the double-block we had just rented, so she had quite a few pre-qualified prospects to call back. She works from a home office and was happy to take on another commission job from her desk.
My apartment showing person wasn't quite as adaptable to change. She is a dear friend of mine, but a bit prone to drama. And I heard about it every day on the phone, often more than once a day. She didn't like the unexpected change to her schedule, and her availability became an issue. I needed to get this apartment rented ASAP, so I could get back to my life; as a result I ended up covering some showings myself.
The final straw came when she called me triumphantly on Wednesday night to say she got a deposit. I was thrilled. The application and deposit money would be waiting for me at home when I returned from grocery shopping with my daughter.
The deposit was $500, which is short of the one month's rent I usually require. My friend said it was because that's all the prospect could get out of the ATM. OK, fine, whatever.
The application was woefully incomplete. No social security number. No previous addresses. The prospect received most of his income from Social Security disability. Proof of that income was included, but showed a previous address of Newark, NJ, which was not on the application. There was a check stub for a few very part-time hours at Lord & Taylor. The prospect indicated on his application that he worked 40 hours per week full-time. I'm pretty sure that if you're on Social Security Disability, you can't work a full-time job and still collect Social Security Disability.
I called the prospect on the phone number listed. I left a message. He called me back while I was cooking supper. Didn't leave a message. Called back again. No message. And again. Strikes one, two and three.
I called the number back and talked to what sounded like a severely mentally challenged young man. He was able to give me his social security number and verify his previous addresses. I told him I would need proof of his full-time income from Lord & Taylor. The SSI plus the part-time income on the check stub did not meet the income requirements for this apartment. He said he would get back to me.
I called my friend back and told her I wasn't so sure about this guy. He didn't completely fill out his application for one thing. She told me he didn't fill it out. His mother was with him and she filled it out. I hit my head down on my granite kitchen island.
I had a 9am showing the next day, and that man gave me a full deposit. So I had to call the SSI recipient and tell him he didn't get the apartment. Then I did the right thing and drove in to Wilkes-Barre to give him his $500 back. His family home was overcrowded. It looked like his mother was trying to push her grown disabled son out of the nest, and if she had to fudge his income a little bit to do it, what's the harm? I felt a little sorry for them, and I wish them the best. His income would have qualified for a one or two bedroom if I had one available, and I certainly would have rented to him.
Another emotionally and physically exhausting week, for sure! I decided this would never happen again. So on Friday I sat down with my weekly calendar and figured out times where it would be convenient for me to show the apartment, if I had to do it myself. I may still use my friend's sevices, if she promises not to fill me in on all the drama more than once a day (I've started sending her calls to voicemail, calling her back around the time she's making supper at night so she has to hurry off the phone. Is that being a bad friend?) The point is, if for whatever reason she is not available, I can cover the showings without any disruption to my life whatsoever.
From experience, I've learned that people like to see apartments right after work, around 5 or 6pm. Or in the daytime around noon but no later than 1pm. No Friday nights. Saturday later morning or noon. Sunday evening. So here's what worked with my schedule:
Monday 5:30 to 6:30, after my gym workout but before supper
Tuesday 11am – 1pm to get the lunch crowd
Wednesday 5:30 to 6:30pm
Thursday & Friday 11:30am-1pm (right after my yoga class but before lunch)
Saturday 10:45 to 1pm
Sunday 5:15 to 6:30pm
A nice mix of evening, daytime and weekend showings. I have them scheduled in 15 minute increments. There's no reason I wouldn't be able to rent an apartment in a week's time!
This new system was put to the test this week when my depositor backed out of the deal. He texted me late Monday afternoon. I was on the road, so I couldn't do much about it until Monday night. I let Sherri know so she could call some people back and start rebooking. I reactivated the ad on Zillow Rental Manager. The phones blew up. Remind me to buy more 3 bedroom per side double blocks as rentals if I ever start buying property again!
My first showings were to be Wednesday night. All five slots were booked. The first prospect was someone who had seen it before and was turned away because that guy put down a deposit before she could. She came with $750 cash. Her and her two housemates returned their completed applications yesterday. Pending approval, they move in September 1st.
I'm breathing easier this week. I didn't have to shove major portions of my life aside to get this apartment rented. And now I have all this free time I set aside for showings I no longer have to do – I filled that midday slot on Saturday over at the Kingston Pool!