Why I Hate Rentals

Disclaimer: I am well aware there are a few of you who read this blog that I have helped find a rental or a renter. You may have even referred family and friends to me. Thank you. This is NOT about you or your family and friends. I promise. 

Realtors hate rentals for a plethora of reasons. First, generally, renters lie about their background and only after the agent has shown them six places do they reveal they may have a teensy murder conviction they really didn't want to mention. Of course, any seasoned agent has asked upfront about background, evictions, convictions and credit. It is amazing how many prospective tenants in the past 15 years have forgotten they served time, had been twice evicted or neglected to mention that their car was being repo'ed as soon as the tow truck driver could find them. 

Second, renters often look for a rental without having the necessary funds to secure the house when they find a place. For example, if one were looking to move by March 1, they would need to immediately pay the application fee, which ranges from $50 to $100 (or more). This is what landlords charge for background/eviction/credit checks. Each landlord charges a different amount. So, a prospective tenant, not knowing if they even have a chance to rent the home, needs to pay this upfront. If they aren't selected for that particular rental home, they will have to pay it for the next property. 

If they are selected, then there is the earnest deposit to take the property off the market (usually it is the security deposit). At move in, there are other deposits such as pet and cleaning, and of course, the rent. It blows me away how many folks want to just "look at homes" without even having the application fee in their checking account. One couple recently asked if the owner would just waive the application fee or let them pay when they moved in. Then, they wanted to know if the owner would let them break down the deposits throughout the lease. What kind of message do you think that sent when there were three other people who were willing to cough up the $80 right there and then? 

Third, in addition to not telling the truth to the person who is there to help them (me), and demonstrating poor money management skills, they often have unrealistic expectations. Yes, a casita or a wine cellar would be lovely. Yes, a balcony overlooking Camelback Mountain would be great to sit at and drink tea on a spring morning, but if your FICO score is 490 and your budget is $1,200, most likely you are getting 1,400 square feet in Chandler. 

Which brings me to point four: I am not a tour guide. I handle rentals because Buckaroo has a strong grocery addiction. The $100 I make (did I mention rentals pay very little?) for the 37 hours of work will reimburse my gas, as well as buy me a few gallons of milk and a few other nutritional items that will instantly go inside of the kid. He is 15. He eats all the time. All.The.Time. 

Then there is point five: potential renters know more about the market than agents do. Because they have gone on Zillow and read three articles written in other markets about the "right way" to negotiate with greedy owners, tenants don't want our advice. They don't believe us when we say that the market is hot. There is a lack of inventory. Homes have multiple applications. The last time they moved was 2011 and at that time there were plenty of homes and landlords would happily negotiate a lower rent, because they were thrilled to have a tenant. Of course, the reason they moved in 2011 was because the landlord lost their home to a foreclosure, but I digress. 

And finally, realtors hate rental clients because they are ungrateful. Agents are the Labrador retrievers of vocations. We want to please others. We want to serve. And nothing sets us off like a crabby, ungrateful tenant who needs to tell us and all of social media that they had to "settle" because they don't feel like we did our job. (To be fair, I have had some outstanding rental clients, but generally, most aren't that nice). Buyers are thrilled with their homes. Sellers are grateful to move on. But rental clients as a whole, after lying to us, tend to blame us for their poor choices. It is a no-win game. 

The only person I ever met who had any love for rentals is El Jefe, and perhaps that is only because he was trying to sell everyone else, in a Tom Sawyer fashion, that helping people find a rental home is a great way to make a living. One gallon of milk at a time.