I have received a viewing request. The enquirer did not answer the screening questions, left a voicemail and the contact details show only a landline. I can’t reply online, nor can I reject the tenant (there’s no Reject button) Any advice on how to move forward without calling the enquirer, which I do not want to do?
In the dashboard I’m advised by OpenRent that, "In order to start a conversation via our messenger, we’ll need some contact information our system can use (email or UK mobile number).
Please use the details provided to contact the tenant, and then add or update the tenant contact details by clicking the button under the user icon."
I like to get the enquiries organised, so I’d prefer to just Reject and not have it keep popping back as a Possible. I’ve asked OpenRent direct and it looks like the only way is to call the enquirer on the landline number.
Why even reply? If they can’t be bothered to leave reasonable contact details, they can’t be that fussed about the property. I would most likely reject someone that’s not so bothered anyway. There’s no obligation to go further than you have so I say forget them. Could even be a scam attempt, you just don’t know. I’ve had a few scam attempts so I’m now very suspicious. Concentrate on the enquiries that look real.
Thanks Phil, I should have been clearer, they left a landline number but no mobile or email so I can’t use the OpenRent system to contact them online and I prefer not to call the applicant. OpenRent has replied and confirmed that I would need to call the landline.
Your sense of doing the right thing is admirable. But what will you get out of making a response? A meaningful relationship that turns into a communicative & valuable tenant? I very much doubt it. Your aim is surely to only achieve that? Being polite is a lovely thing, but its a 2 way street. Its important to recognise the chancers & slackers out there. As Colin says, you don’t need this.
It’s more about my need/desire to manage the 100+ enquiries so that I can Reject the unsuitable and their queries drop to the bottom of the list with a big red flag next to them. I want to be able to reject this applicant, however there’s no Reject button without an email address or mobile number. It’s all sorted now, it was more a query about the system than about this particular applicant.
100+ enquiries? Wow. My 1st thought is that you’re either marketing it too cheaply or the criteria of earnings to be considered aren’t in your ad. I thought I was doing well at 40 enquiries in a week but you’re generating huge amounts of work for yourself.
My method is to use the ad to get interest but also inform people that they must have an income of xxx to qualify to rent. I don’t use the openrent notes, I write my own in a notebook immediately after the viewing. A simple no on the page solves the problem. Sometimes going back to the old fashioned ways can prove to be simpler.
If they don’t get to the viewing stage, they don’t get in the notebook. Simple system that works perfectly. If you’re determined to use technology over the pen, how about a spreadsheet?
I would seriously encourage simplification & the use of screening tools to weed out those unsuitable applicants.
