'No-shows' at apartment rental viewing

az2wp0sye65487

So I put an apartment on the market to rent. 2 bed, newly refurbished, all the details were there on the ad.... a ton of enquiries came through daft, myhome etc. with all sorts of stories about needing an apartment urgently, becoming homeless if they can't find somewhere to rent ASAP; do you accept HAP etc.

I responded to all enquiries, set up a viewing, and had confirmation from around 10 or more that they were coming to see the place.

So I get there a few mins early, open up & put the lights on....... and wait. During the viewing period only 2 people show up.

Where were those on the verge of homelessness?

I actually called one lady (who had sent me an email about currently living in a box-room sharing a bed with her child and urgently needing to find a place) as i was prepared to wait for her. She just said "oh i forgot all about that viewing" and that she wouldn't be coming. Never asked for another appointment.

WTF?!

Heres Johnny

I believe this homelessness crisis is mainly an exaggeration by the media. If a person can't get the exact location and type of house they want they go into temporary accommodation and are classed as homeless.

Sleeper12

Are you offering reduced rent or something to help those on the verge of being homeless? If not then I wouldn't expect this part of the market to be interested.

People aren't just ringing & emailing you. They are in contact with dozens like you. Many of the enquiries are from tyre kickers. The girl in the box room with the child is most likely daydreaming. She can't afford the rent.

tuisginideach

I find that many prospective tenants reply to any ad that may be suitable in any way / reply to ads multiple times / don't keep a record of ads they have replied to / ignore the details of the ad. When I contact them, they don't even know what ad it was. I have met tenants who have expressed surprise that the apartment is a x-bedroomed / is on x floor etc and say 'Oh the ad didn't say that.' Yes it did. Nowadays, I screen the replies (all by email) intently and offer only a particular time slot per viewer. I find it easier in that way to find who is really interested as opposed to those who are looking at a number of properties. If I think someone is genuinely interested, I will do my best to accommodate them with an appointment but if I get the feeling that I'm just one on their list, I don't bother any further with them.

PS I whittle down enquiries and only show to 4/5 and I make back to back appts so that they see others are interested.

colm_mcm

If it’s a situation where 10 people to come look at a place is the norm then you can be sure they’ve responded to tonnes of ads and agreed to go and see most of them for fear that they’ll miss out.

wordofwarning

It is the norm OP. Most potential tenants will not show up to a viewing.

I know the media likes people to think about 40/50 people turn up to an apartment for a viewing during this 'crisis'. If more than 10% of who emailed you shows up, you are doing well

Most people 'badly looking' for a place don't even read the ad. They send you some generic email, that even their price point is nothing like your property. But they sent a message anyway

the_syco

Same over here in Toronto. Was renting a room recently. 40 or 50 replies. Narrowed it down to 20.

Only 5 turned up.

Read about how there are no rooms at least every week, but meh.

qrx

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I believe this homelessness crisis is mainly an exaggeration by the media. If a person can't get the exact location and type of house they want they go into temporary accommodation and are classed as homeless.

Spot on. 3 bed semi d with a garden and stumbling distance to the luas. People need to get real.

gabsdot40

This happened to me last year when we were renting out our property.

Bushmanpm

Sounds about par for the course OP.
We let a flat in Dublin over easter, advertised well in advance with a full description and photos, booked viewing slots over three consecutive days and only had about 35% of bookings actually come to view.
Worse still, on the third day some Muppet rang up for a viewing only to be told she had already booked a viewing for two days prior that she had missed.

Mrs Shuttleworth

Ayden Brave Backside wrote: »

So I put an apartment on the market to rent. 2 bed, newly refurbished, all the details were there on the ad.... a ton of enquiries came through daft, myhome etc. with all sorts of stories about needing an apartment urgently, becoming homeless if they can't find somewhere to rent ASAP; do you accept HAP etc.

I responded to all enquiries, set up a viewing, and had confirmation from around 10 or more that they were coming to see the place.

So I get there a few mins early, open up & put the lights on....... and wait. During the viewing period only 2 people show up.

Where were those on the verge of homelessness?

I actually called one lady (who had sent me an email about currently living in a box-room sharing a bed with her child and urgently needing to find a place) as i was prepared to wait for her. She just said "oh i forgot all about that viewing" and that she wouldn't be coming. Never asked for another appointment.

WTF?!

I logged on specifically to vent about this but the OP here beat me to it.

I have a newly refurbished property in a very busy commercial area - very beautiful and I'm not seeking more than the median market rent for it - I'm getting emails, I reply to the ones I like straight away aaaannnd..... nothing.

I'm also getting about a tenth of the enquiries I've got compared to all lettings over the last seven years.

What is actually going on out there??

dancingqueen

Wow this is baffling! As a tenant, maybe people are afraid that they won't get somewhere, and don't bother showing up for fear it will be a waste of time? It isn't an excuse, I wouldn't do it, but I could see it happening.

Sunny Dayz

I wonder are many of the people expressing interest in renting the apartment only doing so for show. I don't know how housing lists work, are they supposed to show that they really are trying to look for accommodation, that they arranged these viewings (saying nothing about not actually going) and then say they weren't successful. Like the way some people claiming unemployment benefits would apply for jobs to make it look like they were looking for employment when the dole office looks for back up.

Mrs Shuttleworth

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

I wonder are many of the people expressing interest in renting the apartment only doing so for show. I don't know how housing lists work, are they supposed to show that they really are trying to look for accommodation, that they arranged these viewings (saying nothing about not actually going) and then say they weren't successful. Like the way some people claiming unemployment benefits would apply for jobs to make it look like they were looking for employment when the dole office looks for back up.

You may well be on to something. Quite a lot of the emails coming through are threadbare in content, literally "can I view this property" and nothing more.

I usually ignore these but have recently sent back a few polite emails asking for a small amount of background information, i.e. are they working, what general area are they living in etc. You get nada back.

Also if you look at Daft the same properties are appearing for weeks on end now and renewed by the landlord daily. It makes one wonder why the media and Government are pushing a homelessness crisis because for landlords its like October 2008 out here.

Time for a Novena to St Joseph.

arleitiss

I was recently looking for property and messaged over 30 ads.
Those who replied with generic message like:
"Viewing is on at 7 PM next Thursday/[Specific Date]" I just didn't bother, I knew I can show up and there will be 50 others and it feels like some sort of hunger games where you fight for your spot, so I didn't bother.

People who replied more directly specifically with directly targeting me - I attended.


P.S - I landed an apartment for a decent price and landlord was very flexible in terms of arranging viewing.

Maybe it's just me but I hate dealing with landlords who don't bother responding on individual basis and rather just send the copy/paste message, it gives me an idea that it's the kind of landlord who will take your money and just not give a single **** about issues in property.

mrslancaster

Is it just the time of year? Maybe its busier during the summer months when lots of students are looking for places or maybe the rents are too high.

Can't rent at the price you want? Time to start lowering so.

There was always going to be. a ceiling to how much rent people can pay, hopefully we're hitting that now.

stevedublin

Bushmanpm wrote: »

Worse still, on the third day some Muppet rang up for a viewing only to be told she had already booked a viewing for two days prior that she had missed.

okay, did you set up another viewing with her?

server down

These little anecdotes tell you nothing about the actual homeless crisis. For that we have statistics.

K.Flyer

Maybe property rental value is reaching it tipping point and people are pulling back from some of the extortionate prices.
I know an apartment owner who spent a fortune on a complete and comprehensive refurb before putting it back on the market.
Dublin 4 Ballsbridge location, large 100 sq.m. 2 bed, mint condition, private parking, super location.
Agent priced the rent almost 25% higher than owner expected, so they put it on the market annnnd.... waited.
They got someone about a month later.
The owner, a very savvy business person, reckons the market is topping out now and tenants are going to stay put for much longer rather than have the hassle and cost of moving and pandering to agents ever increasing demands for private information and increased rents.

_Dara_

dancingqueen wrote: »

Wow this is baffling! As a tenant, maybe people are afraid that they won't get somewhere, and don't bother showing up for fear it will be a waste of time? It isn't an excuse, I wouldn't do it, but I could see it happening.

Yeah, that actually kinda makes sense. When searching for a place in 2014, I was genuinely checking out the apartment with 30 other people. It was pretty overwhelming. And I had nothing really to distinguish me from everyone else. Very offputting.

chicorytip

arleitiss wrote:

I was recently looking for property and messaged over 30 ads. Those who replied with generic message like: "Viewing is on at 7 PM next Thursday/[Specific Date]" I just didn't bother, I knew I can show up and there will be 50 others and it feels like some sort of hunger games where you fight for your spot, so I didn't bother.

arleitiss wrote:

People who replied more directly specifically with directly targeting me - I attended.

arleitiss wrote:

P.S - I landed an apartment for a decent price and landlord was very flexible in terms of arranging viewing.

Given your experience what would you say are the major differences between a letting which is being handled by an Estate Agent and one where the property owner themselves is the first point of contact?

riffmongous

arleitiss wrote: »

I was recently looking for property and messaged over 30 ads.
Those who replied with generic message like:
"Viewing is on at 7 PM next Thursday/[Specific Date]" I just didn't bother, I knew I can show up and there will be 50 others and it feels like some sort of hunger games where you fight for your spot, so I didn't bother.

People who replied more directly specifically with directly targeting me - I attended.


P.S - I landed an apartment for a decent price and landlord was very flexible in terms of arranging viewing.

Maybe it's just me but I hate dealing with landlords who don't bother responding on individual basis and rather just send the copy/paste message, it gives me an idea that it's the kind of landlord who will take your money and just not give a single **** about issues in property.

Exactly, if I get a vibe that I'll be in competition with a large group of people I just keep looking

April 73

Unless a tenant absolutely needs to move because the LL is selling or moving a family member in or the tenant's job necessitates a change of area - why would anyone move property? The only thing that is sure is that they will end up paying more money than they are currently.
My current tenants are paying €300 below what other properties are going for in the area right now. They'll be going nowhere for the foreseeable. And who could blame them?
The current market was going to inevitably lead to less movement of tenants.

az2wp0sye65487

arleitiss wrote: »

I was recently looking for property and messaged over 30 ads.
Those who replied with generic message like:
"Viewing is on at 7 PM next Thursday/[Specific Date]" I just didn't bother, I knew I can show up and there will be 50 others and it feels like some sort of hunger games where you fight for your spot, so I didn't bother.

People who replied more directly specifically with directly targeting me - I attended.


P.S - I landed an apartment for a decent price and landlord was very flexible in terms of arranging viewing.

Maybe it's just me but I hate dealing with landlords who don't bother responding on individual basis and rather just send the copy/paste message, it gives me an idea that it's the kind of landlord who will take your money and just not give a single **** about issues in property.

There's a problem there though.... everyone that wants to look at the place seems to have a different preference for viewing times & dates. It's just not feasible to accommodate everyone's requirements. But what I can't get over is the amount of people that confirmed their attendance and then just never bothered showing up

Lickin2me

Way to expensive and it was laid out in cheap furniture that was only fit skip

arleitiss

chicorytip wrote: »

Given your experience what would you say are the major differences between a letting which is being handled by an Estate Agent and one where the property owner themselves is the first point of contact?

Letting agents for me were always too much hassle so I never applied for ads that had letting agency mentioned.

I've used to rent apartment in Citywest around 3 years ago and that was via letting agent.

The hassle was real, first the interview with letting agent for him to decide if I am worth his time, then viewing and then documentation (references, work references etc...).

It was really hard to get through to landlord as I had no direct number for landlord and all queries were going through letting agents which took a while.

So since then I've never dealt with letting agents.

arleitiss

Ayden Brave Backside wrote: »

There's a problem there though.... everyone that wants to look at the place seems to have a different preference for viewing times & dates. It's just not feasible to accommodate everyone's requirements. But what I can't get over is the amount of people that confirmed their attendance and then just never bothered showing up

I attended one of those viewings and it was alright, I wasnt chosen but I still attended it only because the landlord was replying to everyone in friendly manner and not just copy paste, it could've been copy/paste but I couldn't tell, not sure how to explain it but yeah.

py

Had the same recently, the ones that did show up (and ultimately took on as tenants) are the ones that I phoned and spoke to. Explained how/when the viewings would work and told them I would send a follow up email to our call which I did. I rented it to one of the people I did this with. The previous viewings I held were all arranged via email and had zero luck getting many at viewings. It's a bit of extra ground work but it worked for me. Keep a track of who you're inviting too.. contact details etc. Sometimes people get delayed and a quick call can save you either waiting around or allow them some time to get there, albeit a little late.

Mrs Shuttleworth

So have four viewings arranged between today and tomorrow.

Will post back on how it went - or not!

bucketybuck

Strange to see OP's like this, it's definitely happening that you could go to look at a place and there will be a scrum of people all there checking it out and trying to get two minutes with the agent/landlord. The idea that there are places available where you don't have to suffer that seems like a pipedream to me.

Its crazy when you think about it, such an important and expensive purchase and you have to make a decision on it and hand over a wedge of cash based on less due diligence than you would make buying a shirt in River Island.

LollipopJimmy

chicorytip wrote: »

Given your experience what would you say are the major differences between a letting which is being handled by an Estate Agent and one where the property owner themselves is the first point of contact?

As a rule I never rented from an agency where possible. I did once and swore I'd never do it again, it was only freak luck that got me in touch with the actual landlord and he was like a demon when he saw the numerous issues with the property that I had been trying to resolve through the agency. One was a fairly substantial leak, he actually stopped dealing with the agency after that and asked me to pay him directly

py

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

So have four viewings arranged between today and tomorrow.

Will post back on how it went - or not!

A little late this round of viewings (hopefully there are no more) but I had 3-5 people come to same viewing after going through the pain of no shows at individual viewings. Saves you time and answering questions for one can be overheard by others too so prevents you repeating yourself. Might also show that there are other people interested in it.

mel123

The ones who ring you or even go to the bother of texting, are the serious ones I find. They ring and ask the questions they want to know, and either want to view it or say I'll get back to you. These emails with absolutely no effort boggle my mind. I used to set ads up for a family member that used to be in the game of renting, and ive been on the other side looking to rent also so i know what id write if i were to email, but 'hi when you viewing' and thats it were some of the types of emails i used to get!

OP, maybe set up viewings and give people times? Couple a 6pm, couple b 6.15, and so on. A bit more time consuming as you may spend an hour or so there, but at least you will know who will show if they make an appointment with you and think you are going there specifically to meet them.

bucketybuck

mel123 wrote: »

OP, maybe set up viewings and give people times? Couple a 6pm, couple b 6.15, and so on.

I don't know why this isn't standard. An appointment for 6.15 is an actual appointment with a commitment in a way that an open viewing after 6pm is not.

LirW

If you think that's bad, have you ever tried to hire a plumber? :pac:

server down

bucketybuck wrote: »

I don't know why this isn't standard. An appointment for 6.15 is an actual appointment with a commitment in a way that an open viewing after 6pm is not.

Open viewings are a sign of high demand. In a different era, a mere 5 years, ago I came back to ireland and had company paid accommodation for slightly more than a month. About the 3rd weekend into that I decided to look for a rental and got in touch with an estate agent. We arranged an actual day to meet to see two houses. We took our time deciding. Both were empty.

Obviously in those cases I made an appointment. There was nobody else looking at them as far as I could see.

So complaining about no shows at an open viewing isnt much of a complaint. The place will be rented out. The fact there are multiple people turning up, even if not all of them who say they will do, shows high demand.

Bushmanpm

stevedublin wrote:

okay, did you set up another viewing with her?

Er no, we got the impression from her original emails lack of detail she was just emailing en masse. Sorry but if you make an arrangement, keep to it or at least have the decency to make contact to cancel.

pilly

I had the same issue the last time I showed my house, I went to the trouble of screening people beforehand, gave them actual appointments, not just an open viewing and 50% didn't turn up despite some begging me to rent the house before they'd even seen it.

I don't know if it's because people feel that they won't have a chance or what but I like to give everyone a chance based on a face to face meeting.

Some emails I didn't bother replying to though because they were either BOTS or not reading the ad. "I'm interested in your apartment" was quite a regular one.

Bigmac1euro

Maybe drop the price and see how many people turn up. I’m guessing your letting it at the “going rate” which is far too expensive in the first place. If your upset that 2 people of the 10 only turned up it’s because they couldn’t afford it.

Lux23

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I believe this homelessness crisis is mainly an exaggeration by the media. If a person can't get the exact location and type of house they want they go into temporary accommodation and are classed as homeless.

Well, I believe you're quite wrong. Try visiting a homeless help centre and see for yourself before spouting nonsense like that.

pilly

steo_magra wrote: »

Maybe drop the price and see how many people turn up. I’m guessing your letting it at the “going rate” which is far too expensive in the first place. If your upset that 2 people of the 10 only turned up it’s because they couldn’t afford it.

This is absolute bull. If you can't afford an apartment then don't ring up and make an appointment to view it, simple.

Bigmac1euro

pilly wrote: »

This is absolute bull. If you can't afford an apartment then don't ring up and make an appointment to view it, simple.

It was most likely a copy and paste to many different properties, I’m sure the people in question weighed it up with other places and pulled out. Can you blame people for not showing up at the way things are going. Are you LL ? ..... Thought so. You most likely have no idea what it’s like trying to find a place at the moment. In order to get a place that’s affordable to the normal Joe you have to broadcast emails to get something back. Your never going to turn down a viewing because your circumstances might change between the time your viewing on the time you’ve sent the email saying you would view. The idea is to leave all doors open.

Bigmac1euro

OSI wrote: »

"I'm getting bugger all interest in my apartment advertised at 2k a month that would need a salary in the mid 50ks to afford. Clearly this media stuff about poor people not being able to afford housing is bollocks"




Letting agents are pointless. They're pretty much a guaranteed sign that a landlord has **** all interest in a property beyond getting their cheque at the end of every month. You'll never get anything fixed or replaced, and the odd time they do bother to fix something they'll send their nixer bloke rather than hiring a proper tradesman.

This!

arleitiss

arleitiss wrote: »

I was recently looking for property and messaged over 30 ads.
Those who replied with generic message like:
"Viewing is on at 7 PM next Thursday/[Specific Date]" I just didn't bother, I knew I can show up and there will be 50 others and it feels like some sort of hunger games where you fight for your spot, so I didn't bother.

People who replied more directly specifically with directly targeting me - I attended.


P.S - I landed an apartment for a decent price and landlord was very flexible in terms of arranging viewing.

Maybe it's just me but I hate dealing with landlords who don't bother responding on individual basis and rather just send the copy/paste message, it gives me an idea that it's the kind of landlord who will take your money and just not give a single **** about issues in property.

Most LL are busy, have day jobs, family etc etc they don't have time for writing out loads of replies to different people contacting them when there could be 30 or 40 people emailing in a short space of time. Same for viewings they need to schedule it at a time that suits them.

I'm not a fan of email anyway for this sort of thing, a LL should have a burner phone for this sort of thing which is turned on for a few hours a day, any calls are answered anything outside of them hours leaves a message and their number. I've rented out many rooms in the house shares I've lived in and vetted plenty and as a rule I ignored all email enquiries as over the phone you can do the first cull of potential people as you get a feel for them, that's much harder to do over email.

PierreLeCake

Its always been the way that people don't show up for viewings. In the past when I gave out my phone number I had people swear they were 10 minutes away and then did n't turn up.
The last time 2 years ago I use email to filter out people just to keep the numbers down. The house was below market rates so there was a lot of interest. All the people I emailed turned up with one exception and even they had the decency to email and say they were n't coming.
My better half has just put a house on. Its in an expensive area of Dublin asking over 2000 Euro per month and we can't believe the number of HAP enquiries. Please tell me HAP recipients can't get up to 2 Grand a month for rent.
All the homeless charities email as well so I suspect people are just throwing out emails at every property that comes up on Daft. Somebody on this thread mentioned Bots which did n't even occur to me. Why would somebody set up a Bot to answer rental ads. Are they scammers or just being super efficient in their hunt for property.
Even though the ad said it was a house the amount of people enquiring about the apartment to rent is unbelievable. When you whittle out HAP enquiries and the "when can I see the property" type replies I would say about 10% gave enough information to warrant a reply back. It will be interesting to see how many people turn up to the viewing.

arleitiss

What's HAP?

Also been wondering (since there seems to be quite a few of property owners here):
Do landlords get calls from orgs/gov asking if they are willing to let out property to homeless for cheaper? (or some other type of scheme/thing)

jim-mcdee

Why don't you use an agent? Then you don't have to worry about it. What experience do you have with renting apartments? Do you know the laws inside out? Would you service your own car if you didn't know one end of a spanner from the other?

pilly

PierreLeCake wrote: »

Its always been the way that people don't show up for viewings. In the past when I gave out my phone number I had people swear they were 10 minutes away and then did n't turn up.
The last time 2 years ago I use email to filter out people just to keep the numbers down. The house was below market rates so there was a lot of interest. All the people I emailed turned up with one exception and even they had the decency to email and say they were n't coming.
My better half has just put a house on. Its in an expensive area of Dublin asking over 2000 Euro per month and we can't believe the number of HAP enquiries. Please tell me HAP recipients can't get up to 2 Grand a month for rent.
All the homeless charities email as well so I suspect people are just throwing out emails at every property that comes up on Daft. Somebody on this thread mentioned Bots which did n't even occur to me. Why would somebody set up a Bot to answer rental ads. Are they scammers or just being super efficient in their hunt for property.
Even though the ad said it was a house the amount of people enquiring about the apartment to rent is unbelievable. When you whittle out HAP enquiries and the "when can I see the property" type replies I would say about 10% gave enough information to warrant a reply back. It will be interesting to see how many people turn up to the viewing.

Depends how many kids you have how much you would get on HAP but if they're going to 2k I think they'd need about 8 kids or something, not an impossibility I suppose.

arleitiss

jim-mcdee wrote: »

Why dont you use an agent? Then you dont have to worry about it.

I would assume agent isn't a free service.

jim-mcdee

arleitiss wrote: »

I would assume agent isn't a free service.

Correct, it is not a free service. If someone offers such a service for free, I would advise not to accept. Same can be said for all professional services. Is it a good idea to hand a stranger the keys of your property, with little or no letting or vetting experience, just to save a few quid ? If you think it is, fair enough.