Tire kickers everywhere

Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
785
Location
Central NY
I used to sell cars at a used car dealer and dealt with tire kickers day in day out. I put my house up for rent last week and I today I understand why there people would rather sell than deal with it.

I scheduled a 12pm viewing for all interested parties. The address isn’t public I only send it once people reach out and say they are interested. This random guy rushes in at 12:30 before I’m about to close up, and instantly starts aggressively complaining about the paint being scratched, the floors being worn, the floor trim being loose. I asked where the damage was because everything was redone a year ago…and he couldn’t tell me. Then he starts going off about how by law I’m supposed to repaint homes between tenancy. I’ve never heard of such law so I politely asked him what the law is under - as I was genuinely curious. He said he doesn’t deal with the law and started going off about how I’m an amateur and should be shut down. He keeps walking around pointing stuff out while I’m just standing shocked wondering who this guy thinks he is to come into my house and talk like that.

About a minute later I had enough of his rambling and told him if he didn’t like it, he can get the F out of my house as I have plenty of prospective, respectful applicants. He decides to stay and starts arguing saying he’s surprised that’s how I talk to my tenants, that he’s a realtor and had lots of interested parties(I.e he was never looking for a place to live) , how he’s there trying to help me etc. I told him I never solicited his help so he can leave if he doesn’t like it. He walks out only to start calling me names and I reminded him he’s the one coming into my house talking s***. He then threatens me by saying I’ll be getting a call from the “housing authority”.

All of this and he doesn’t know who I am and what my contact info is lol. The people that roam this world. Makes you wonder why things are the way they are these days.

Anybody else deal with non-sense like this before?
 
Good luck. You will see all sort of characters.
You may want to pre-select them first by meeting them in a public place and then bring it to your place when you feel it is suitable and have mutual interest. I know it is a lot more work but you will show to less people but quality will be better.
 
I feel for you. I couldn't imagine dealing with the general public trying to rent a place, sell a car, etc. specifically in today's climate.
 
I used to sell cars at a used car dealer and dealt with tire kickers day in day out. I put my house up for rent last week and I today I understand why there people would rather sell than deal with it.

I scheduled a 12pm viewing for all interested parties. The address isn’t public I only send it once people reach out and say they are interested. This random guy rushes in at 12:30 before I’m about to close up, and instantly starts aggressively complaining about the paint being scratched, the floors being worn, the floor trim being loose. I asked where the damage was because everything was redone a year ago…and he couldn’t tell me. Then he starts going off about how by law I’m supposed to repaint homes between tenancy. I’ve never heard of such law so I politely asked him what the law is under - as I was genuinely curious. He said he doesn’t deal with the law and started going off about how I’m an amateur and should be shut down. He keeps walking around pointing stuff out while I’m just standing shocked wondering who this guy thinks he is to come into my house and talk like that.

About a minute later I had enough of his rambling and told him if he didn’t like it, he can get the F out of my house as I have plenty of prospective, respectful applicants. He decides to stay and starts arguing saying he’s surprised that’s how I talk to my tenants, that he’s a realtor and had lots of interested parties(I.e he was never looking for a place to live) , how he’s there trying to help me etc. I told him I never solicited his help so he can leave if he doesn’t like it. He walks out only to start calling me names and I reminded him he’s the one coming into my house talking s***. He then threatens me by saying I’ll be getting a call from the “housing authority”.

All of this and he doesn’t know who I am and what my contact info is lol. The people that roam this world. Makes you wonder why things are the way they are these days.

Anybody else deal with non-sense like this before?
Sounds like what my sister and brother-in-laws are dealing with over in Vernon, NY (also CNY); scumbags everywhere. If you got his information, remember to not rent to him or anyone with the same last name.
 
Seems like the appropriate response would have been "I don't think this rental is a good fit for you or any of your clients. It's time to leave now." and ended things.
 
Geez, I drove a commuter bus in and out of Manhattan for 20 years. I knew down to the date and minute when I would qualify for my pension based on my 3 best years out of my last ten. My last day i worked a night run, done at 8am. Went to corporate and was retired before lunch. The general public is a nightmare, I’m grateful my exposure was limited. And I survived.
 
I would NEVER give my home address to a complete stranger.

I prefer to meet at local police station parking lot.
And do what? Hard to show a house for rent standing in a parking lot. Pre-screening based on meeting someone sounds like an invitation to discrimination lawsuits in the world we live in. That method works fine for cars or bicycles.
 
Good luck. You will see all sort of characters.
You may want to pre-select them first by meeting them in a public place and then bring it to your place when you feel it is suitable and have mutual interest. I know it is a lot more work but you will show to less people but quality will be better.

Now I understand why some landlords go the lengths they do when it comes to tenant screening. Me personally, I set up everything the way it’ll go(wether car, house, boat etc anything) before I allow people to see it. If they mention things that are otherwise aligned with their taste, they will get no response from me. Even with cars I won’t sell to someone who’s nit picky. I price accordingly and do what I need to move the product. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else. You can say this isn’t good for business, but it’s good for my own sanity.
 
and this is why people trade in an item or pay someone else do the hard work to avoid this hassle. all of this is just part of the game.
 
The potential for eviction moratoriums is reason enough not to want to be a landlord.
agreed! That precedent was astonishing (and illegal) and I think the shock waves from that are going to severely cripple the future of rentals going forward!
 
The potential for eviction moratoriums is reason enough not to want to be a landlord.

Seriously. And people wonder where all of the “good & affordable” housing went. The good LLs have all left the market because of tenant biased laws. The only people left behind will be the slum lords because they only see it as a numbers game.
 
Realtor here, been doing rentals for over 15 years. I screen them all the time, I don't hand out random times. Usually I meet each one individually. Usually I like to scheduled at least 2-3 to come in the same time frame with a 15-20 minute gap between them as most people take 10-15 minutes to look at a rental and then they may be 5-10 minutes early or late. Usually if you schedule 3, chances are one might flake out. If you do one at a time, one time in 3 you'll be waiting for someone who doesn't show up. That's why I like to group several at time, at least one or two of them will show up.

I don't know about NY, but in MA, same thing, no requirement to have the place painted although I've run into a lot of people who seem to think that it needs to be done. It's not in the state sanitary code which controls what is legal and not legal. You could have wood paneling so they're not going to make you paint that.

I do basic screen questions, like the 1st one is when are you looking to move in. You wouldn't believe how you might advertise something for next month and you get people looking for a few months from then or need it right away. Then I try to figure out how many people they have and what they do for work. Or you do a basic phone screening. Some basics are getting rid of people who have pets or smoke. I also screen by getting rid of people who don't have the full funds, typically at least 2-3 months worth of rent up front and I don't take deposits, just the full amount and a signed lease at the same time so no one can back out and you have to start from scratch again. I make everyone fill out an application and then I run a credit check afterwards.

The potential for eviction moratoriums is reason enough not to want to be a landlord.
You only look at the bad, not the good. Real estate prices have gone up 2-3x over the last 10 years here. Didn't get hit with anyone citing the moratoriums, but I've evicted at least a dozen tenants over the years. Just part of the business. I still make money even at 85-90% of the properties rented and I've been more like 100% the last few years. Yes, you lose anywhere from 5-8k each time you do an eviction but that's not every month maybe one every year or two if you have enough units.
 
Seems like the appropriate response would have been "I don't think this rental is a good fit for you or any of your clients. It's time to leave now." and ended things.

That was what I was trying to say, but the aggressive nature of his b*tchn’ & moaning had me a little riled up. I mean, if you don’t like it just leave. I had a few tenants do this. No offense taken it just isn’t right for you. If you need to mention anything, come with a solution instead of rude comments.

Heck, I’d be fine if he just told me the discrepancies instead of trying to build it into some alpha male narrative.
 
Seriously. And people wonder where all of the “good & affordable” housing went. The good LLs have all left the market because of tenant biased laws. The only people left behind will be the slum lords because they only see it as a numbers game.
I don't know what you mean by this, overall the rents have gone up, I haven't fully kept up with rent increases which is probably why I've been at 100% the last few years, didn't want to do it during a pandemic but I just raised them a little and everyone is still staying. Landlording has always been a numbers game. It's a business just like any other business. You can still make money even in a tenant friendly state and I'm in one of the friendliest and also one with one of the highest rents.
 
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