Atlanta Property Manager becomes a Tenant – Lessons Learned
I had the pleasure of being a renter recently. My family and I had rented a place at our traditional Labor Day vacation spot. This is the first year that my mom had chosen the house. She selected a property from VRBO.com and the reviews looked great. The place had a lot of bookings, was in a desirable location and most importantly, the owners allowed us to have our dogs which was a very important consideration. Having always travelled with our puppies, I was aware that the home would most likely be a little shabbier than other places as it is part of the deal. However, we didn’t expect what I had found for the price we were paying.
So why am I sharing this with you? I learned (or was reminded of) some great lessons on this trip and thought you might benefit from them, but let me finish telling you the story.
Check in was at 4:00. My parents arrived at 5:00, our son and his girlfriend had gotten here at 3:30, but failed to share with us the condition of the home and left to go get a drink as they had no idea what to do. They actually thought that the previous renters were still there.
Little did I know what was in store for me when I arrived at 6:00… My mother was madder than a wet cat when I showed up. She didn’t even greet me as she was on the phone trying to find a new rental house. My dad took his dog to a nearby shopping area just to get out of her way. There is really nothing worse than my mother on a tear.
Now I manage hundreds of rental property. You would think that nothing I could see would offend me or that I haven’t seen it before. Well, I have to say, I was absolutely disgusted. The place looked like a fraternity house after rush weekend and this was after a cleaning crew had been dispatched and had been there for over an hour. I can only image how my mother found it. The previous tenant obviously had a bird in the house as there were sunflower seeds & parrot food all over the house and the half empty bag of the food and lots of bird poop and feathers all over the place. Who lives like that in a high end vacation home?
My mom had called the owner who was out of state, to share with her about the fact that the place was absolutely a mess and the home was in need of some repair and updating. The owner stated that she would get a cleaner out there immediately. My mom put up even more of a fuss, so the owner agreed to provide a refund for a little over 1 night’s stay. While on the surface that seemed reasonable, in reality it was a really little consolation to our predicament.
We had planned on having dinner for 6 at the house, one of the kids was sick and she couldn’t lay down to rest because the cleaners were still cleaning, we couldn’t unload the cars because we didn’t trust the items were safe, we didn’t want to leave our dogs for fear that they would get out, it was a real mess.
The owner gave my mom 2 options. Half the money we paid and leave tonight or take the 1 night’s refund. Neither of these options really worked for us. So my mom asked me to call the owner when we went out to dinner at 8:30 leaving our son and his girlfriend at the home with the cleaners.
What struck me the most when I call was the owner’s really un-sympathetic attitude. We knew that she didn’t control the cleaner’s not showing up earlier in the day. We really didn’t expect her to do anything more about that. What I would have expected was a sincerely apology and her asking what else can we do to make you feel better about this. Had she offered to refund our money less 1 night, we would have found another place and been all the happier not thinking ill of her or her rental. She would have had good karma in the world. We really couldn’t afford to pay for another place and lose half of the deposit. After all, none of this was our fault. So basically she had us in a no win position and she knew it.
So what did I learn through this transaction to be a better property manager you ask?
- Make sure that the marketing pictures accurately reflect the property. The property pictures on-line really didn’t accurately reflect the condition of the property.
- Always provide the tenant with a way to view the property in advance. Had we seen the property before our arrival, we could have made better choices. Needless to say we are viewing properties this week for next year.
- Be sympathetic & listen. Part of the issue we had with this owner is that they kept running over us when we were trying to vent our frustration. Had she just been quiet and listened, we would have been a little calmer. When a tenant is upset about an issue. Clearly articulate your understanding of the problem and ask if we understood the issue correctly. Then ask what do they feel would have been a reasonable request. Had the owner offered to buy our dinner in addition to what she offered, then we would have probably put it behind us and all been able to move on. As it stands, I am telling everyone I knew and thousands I don’t know about this experience. I am being kind by not divulging the owner, but part of me would like to…
- When you manage a property, evaluate your properties periodically and update the marketing material. We do this after every resident moves out. What was fine when a tenant moved in may require attention when they move out. This home has some serious differed maintenance. I don’t think they have been here in years.
- If you are renting a furnished place (which we don’t do at SSPM) then refresh the furnishings every so often. The beds here are embarrassingly tired and springs are poking out. If you refresh on a schedule, you will have more repeat business and spread out costs over time. The same applies for carpet and appliances in a yearly rental.
- When you have complaints about the property – check to see if they are accurate. Not every person has realistic expectations about the property, but rather than say – “Well, I have never gotten a complaint…” What you should say is thank you for bringing that to my attention, I will look into it.
- Always collect a deposit. This owner had no deposit from us or the previous tenants. Had she collected one, she would have had funds to make us happy and still not be out of pocket. It also would have provided the tenants with an incentive to clean up the property before they left and not leave it in the condition it was in.
While I know this is a long post, I thought you would find it interesting since the landlord became the tenant and I hope you have enjoyed the story and learned or were reminded of some great lessons. Feel free to comment and share your own story as well.
- All my best!
