JC and Carlie came to my attention because of another property management company that throws rental business my way once in a while. Generally, all of the folks they give me are reasonable types without felonies. Once in a while, not so much, but that is pretty much the make-up of renters as a whole. Anyway, JC and Carlie called me some time in December. They were moving here at the end of January and wanted to find a place, with me doing the legwork and them looking at pretty house pictures on line.
As you can imagine, I told them how it would go. They would actually need to view the homes themselves because I don't do "legwork." My instructions were to get here and then we would go look. That actually worked out well because JC's mother lives in a retirement community and she has plenty of room. Plus, they had ALREADY rented a place for two weeks in Scottsdale for mid-February.
Over the course of the past six weeks, I have continually tried to educate them on the rental market. It is hot. There are multiple applications on any property they wish to view. Be prepared to be the best and there is no room to negotiate. There is no "nit-picking" because the three other applicants have already failed a time or two and are willing to live with what you aren't. And here was the major item: if you find a place, an owner is not going to hold it for you for four weeks. So, if they want to move in March 1st, don't bother looking until mid-February.
Saturday morning, I was holding an open house with Jane (more on the open house in another blog). In between my knitting project and sipping ice tea, JC and Carlie sent me a text message. They wanted to see a rental property RIGHT NOW! That was well and good and all, but I was a bit busy. I almost told them we could wait a couple of days, as--and I can't stress this enough--a landlord wasn't going to hold a home for four weeks for them. But right before I could respond, Divine Providence jumped to my rescue. Mrs. Worrier (more on her in another blog too) had also sent me a text. She was on her way to Phoenix right then and needed me to stop what I was doing and rush over and show her six houses--none of which I had sent to her or knew if they were available. I was pleased to write her back, "Sorry, I am working with a client today. I am unavailable."
I will fast forward a bit. JC and Carlie are a super-delightful couple. Probably around sixty-ish, I imagine Polly will be just like Carlie at the same age. Both are artsty, girly-girls with a hippy bent. JC has a bit of a Chicago mob boss-vibe going for him. I liked them instantly. And even better yet, they liked the house we looked at!
Through the course of the showing, the owner, who wanted to meet them, showed up letting us know she already had three applications on the house. She liked JC and Carlie. Of all the applicants they seemed like the most stable, able to pay, long-term tenants she was going to find. However, Mrs. Landlord was not holding this home for them for the next 30+ days.
If they wanted it, she wanted to know, "What kind of agreement could we reach?"
Agreement indeed.
And then, with the position of power, Mrs. Landlord abruptly changed the subject and went around the home, showing Carlie all of the little ins and outs that she thought Carlie needed to see, leaving JC to ponder his options.
He took me aside, "What do I do? I have a place until March 1," he stated.
"If you back out of your two week rental, and loose half of the money (about $400), will it matter a year from now?"
"No." he said.
"If you don't back out of the rental and lose this place, will Carlie remember it a year from now?"
He didn't reply to me, but instead went directly over to Mrs. Landlord and agreed to take it on February 1.
Note: Now to be fair, Mrs. Landlord hasn't approved them yet. She needs to run all of the necessary background checks and verify what he is saying is true. However, once JC said he would move up the move-in date, she began talking as if everything was a foregone conclusion. "Here is your mailbox key." "I will have to get you a remote for the gate." (gated community.). "The HOA will come by on Tuesdays to trim your front bushes." And my favorite, "Would it be ok, if I had a plumber call you on Thursday to replace the hot water heater?" Hopefully everything will turn out great. And the best part, I was working with reasonable renters today and I will get paid.
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