How To Spot A Landlord Desperate To Acquire You As A Tenant | Propertylogy

How To Spot A Landlord Desperate To Acquire You As A Tenant

By on March 10, 2015

Have you had the chance to take a look around your neighborhood? How many apartments or houses do you see with a “For Rent” sign on them? Chances are there are plenty of them. Why do you think this is? Well one reason is because people just don’t have the money to rent like they used to. You have a lot of college students who choose to move back in with their parents because of the bad economy. Then you have a lot of other people that choose to room up together in order to get by. This leaves a lot of apartments empty and this means a lot of desperate landlords?

Yes. There are instances, in fact, many instances, where a tenant can actually turn the tables totally on the potential landlord. It is usually all about demand and supply. When the supply of rental homes overwhelmingly exceed the demand for vacancies, it is the time where tenants get into a festive mood. There might be other reasons why a landlord could be desperate for tenants. But most of the time, it will have something to do with oversupply and competition.

What do you believe this means to you as someone who wants an apartment? Well it means if you play it right you should be able to get a pretty good apartment or house… at a price that you will subtly boast about with your friends at the next poker weekend. All you need to do is know how to look for the signs and this doesn’t have to be tough to do. Here are a few ways you can spot a landlord that’s desperate to acquire you as a tenant.

They are calling you instead of the other way around

Anyone would like to think that any tenant-landlord relationship will be a 2 way affair. But in reality, landlords are usually more passive when marketing their vacancies. In a way, landlords are business owners. Meaning, they will have loads of task to go over. And calling up prospects is one something that ranks high up on the to-do list.

Rental property owners often put up their listings and entertain open houses. That’s about all they put in their own job description. What they usually do after that is to wait for that call from genuinely interested parties or from the realtors they hired. So if a landlord is calling you to ask for an offer before you indicate any real interest, it says a lot about how much your business could mean to his cash flow.

True. It could be that you are dealing with a landlord who is on-the-ball or a go-getter. But the odds weigh heavily against that. It is more likely that the deal means more to him that it is to you. Be aware that this could be your opportunity to seize the upper-hand.

They are willing to lower the rent for you even though it would cost them a lot of money

When you’re speaking with a potential landlord you’ve already gone in knowing what the rent is going to be and you’re prepared to pay it. Heck! You saw the advertisement and you called. Surely you know the asking price. But you’re not going to take the apartment or house without asking some questions. Landlords know when they have someone who is going to take good care of their apartment and they don’t want to lose them. So what they might do is start lowering the rent for them. It wouldn’t be much, maybe a hundred dollars or a little more. This is one way to know you’re desired as a tenant.

It might be ridiculous to hear this. But landlords, especially real estate veterans with a wealth of experience do have a preferred profile for their tenants. Some may like students, some may like retirees, some may like foreigners, and some may like singles. You really cannot tell what kind of preference a landlord has unless he tells you so. Even then, you cannot trust him 100%.

So if a house is getting a lot of interest, and you are being offered a discount, you can probably tell that the owner prefers to rent to someone like you. At this point, his decision making process has entered into the emotional state. And as you know people can be irrational when they get emotional. It could be time you up the ante.

Their willing to offer all sorts of extras or even a free months rent to get you in the door

Have you ever had a landlord tell you that they’ll throw in extra stuff if you’re willing to sign a lease? Desperate landlords do this all the time. They might tell you that they’ll include free internet if you move in or that they’ll provide you with good parking spaces. Offering you free rent is the number one way to push past any resistance you might put up. These are landlords who know that they have to offer some incentives not because they don’t have a good apartment or house to rent, but because the competition might be doing it as well.

This is a clear sign that the owner knows the market. And he knows that he is someway short of what the competition is offering. Thus, the willingness to short-change himself. If you really have no need for the extra gimmicks that he is offering, very often, you should be able to get a lower rental by putting his focus on the lack of them.

Their willing to make exceptions on things that were excluded in the posting

Some landlords really are serious when they say that they don’t want animals in their apartments such as dogs or cats. Dogs and cats can leave behind messes and in some cases they can bother tenants. But what does a landlord do if they keep having to pass on good tenants simply because they have a pet? What they do is start making exceptions. If someone seems like they will be consistent with paying the rent and isn’t going to cause any problems for other tenants, then letting them have a cat or a small dog isn’t a big deal.

Other exceptions that clearly show desperation are those that concern visitors, compromising on rent payment dates, and negotiating down on rental deposits.



You May Also Like...

hair1 eye1 abs1
Latest Singapore home loan rates
Hidden items that bring up mortgage costs
Hiring a competent agent
How to burn more calories in the office

Send this to a friend