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“Can you start pre listing my home before the tenant moves out?” “Can you show the home while it’s occupied?”
We often get this question from an Owner when the lease on their rental is coming to an end.
We get it.
You want to be on top of it, minimize your vacancy and increase your annual profit. While this is done by getting a tenant in the unit quickly, efficiently and for the best rent price, we found it does NOT mean showing while occupied. Here is a list of tried and tested reasons from seasoned property managers on why we do NOT rent homes that are occupied.
COVID
This one is new, but obvious.
Current Tenants can be Messy
Let us make a list of just some of the items we have seen in tenants homes:
- Dirty clothes
- Old food on counters
- Dirty dishes in the sink
- Unclean bathrooms
- Unmade beds
And those are the PG rated items. You can try to incentivize tenants to keep their places clean, but the truth is, one persons definition of clean is very different from another.
Current tenants may talk about all the bad things
Imagine this, you are walking a prospective tenant through an occupied unit. The current tenant is there. They start complaining about the late fees that were added last month. Then they make sure to let the prospect know about the old windows and creaky floors. They also mention that they wish the kitchen was a little bigger. It goes without saying that this negative experience will impact the prospects desire to rent the unit.
Tenants do not always leave on time
Despite the lease ending on a certain day, tenants do not always move out on time. Life circumstances cause delays. A lot of things need to happen during a turnover: Inspection, maintenance, remove trash, cleaning, carpet cleaning, painting, etc. If the move out date is pushed back, then all of these items are also moved back. But since you have already rented the unit with a scheduled move in date, you will have just ruined the new tenant’s experience. Their move in date will need to be pushed back or they will be moving into a unit that is not completed and ready. We have the best experience with new tenants when they move into a clean, well-maintained, trash-free home.
To Conclude
We know these things about showing occupied homes because we have leased thousands of units over the past 14 years. We work very hard to put tenants in as soon as possible. The team at Access keeps close track of rent prices to market homes correctly and make adjustments as needed. We find that tenants respect a home and stay longer when they move in happy.
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