Hi There,
Just starting out as a Landlord with Openrent.
Question I have is that the listing has gone live and there are now 6 people/couples booked in over 2 days to view property.
If for some strange reason they all say they like the place and want to proceed.
Openrent say they need to click on the Rent Now green button on listing page.
As I understand it, only the first person can do this. And then the referencing process will begin. What do I tell the other prospective tenants they should be doing while I am having to wait 3-5 days for the reference check to come back ?
And what if on the second day there is someone who I think is a better fit for the property than the first person to view who wants to proceed ?
Let them all view it and then YOU pick one out They can click on open rent as many times as they like, you choose the tenant.Tell all those who like the place you will let them know in a few days time what you have decided.
What Colin said! Iâm betting you get 4 turn up and likely 2 who say they want it.
What I usually do is ask them to let me know by the end of the day if theyâre interested and then I choose which one to put forward. Its great to have a backup if they fail referencing
Hi Colin. Not sure of this process. Do I have to ok the chosen tenant first on Open Rent? If so, where is that? Meaning that if I have not okayed any tenants then no tenant can go forward by clicking some button that says they want to rent it? Hope that is clear!!!
Monica I can only go by what I am happy with⌠I had 31 people apply for one flat .as they email thru openrent i never phoned them back so they did not have my mobile number. I asked them thru openrent email Are you working? Do you have children? Is this place for yourself? Do you have any pets ? are you a smoker? Its no good a person showing up if they dont meet your requirements. I had about a Third who did NOT reply about a third who said they were not working . These I replyed I could not help them . So no viewing Then a couple who had pets⌠not for me. Can you see how much time i saved myself and them? In the end I selected One viewing who I am about to rent the place to NO ONE can rent without YOU say so no matter how many buttons they push
Hello @Colin
Have you used openrent once or have you used it severally ?
My experience is that anyone can click on rent now button without even without viewing the property or getting an ok from the landlord (afterall all they have to do is pay a reserve deposit of ÂŁ200) and when that happens it takes your property off the market for other prospective tenants. You then may have to deny them before it goes back on the market and during that time it sends a message to all other prospective tenants that the property is rented.
Secondly if A clicks rent now and pays whilst prospective tenant A is doing a reference you cant do a reference check on B or C except you pay for it yourself.
Hi Olaleye this is the fourth time I have used openrent along with my business associate, On two properties I Had 30 enquireys on each. What i did was this I do not phone them as they then can contact you i even if you dont want that. I message thru openrent and ask ! are you in work? 2 Is this for just yourself? 3 Are you a smoker? 4 Do you have pets? ( you can ask your own questions) So you can tell what is important to me! One third dont reply, Remove from list⌠Then select from the rest of the list those you like for a viewing I got it down to one viewing and they took it. I make it clear that I organise the reference FIRST and if its o k they pay ME the deposit and one months rent. I have not had anyone pay openrent or clickthe rent now button, if they did that would be the end of them as a tenant for me I think openrent will correct this situation for you but it would be very annoying
Hello Collin,
I agree with all you have said earlier about screening questions earlier on email, reference checks before renting which is how I have always proceeded.
I have had that experience thats why I am sharing where a tenant without viewing the property clicked on rent now and in that situation blocks out other tenants. You will agree with me that, if that happens you loose time and a tenant who could have been a better option. Whilst your response is, that is the end of that tenant meaning you wouldnât rent to them it doesnot address the time you/I would have lost when better tenants could have gone away.
Secondly you didnât respond to the fact that during affordability screening all other prospective tenants are SHUT off ( notified property is unavailable and some will have started looking elsewhere ) now if (big IF) the reference come back failed, you are back to square one, where you are re advertising the property. I wish there was a way to keep everyone who you accept on a list and screen them. whoever passes first then gets the property.
So in essence what I am saying is openrent is good but could be better or best.
I am new to OpenRent this month and have had the same issues where the potential tenants even after question screening have failed the credit checks.
So that I can still contact the other applicants and donât miss out on valuable advertising time, I duplicated the listing and re-advertised it.
It is annoying not having applicants on one list and not being able to have the option of âpotential let agreed - tenant undergoing referencingâ on the advert so other are still welcome to apply but understand if the potential tenant passes referencing they have priority.
Sam. How about an answer. If someone not the landlord sends a holding deposit or clicks rent now do you first check with the landlord, before blocking out other potential applicants?
They give you the option to accept the holding deposit which takes it off the market. What the best option for landlords would be to accept the deposit, show potential let agreed but still advertise on the same listing.
Nick 5 I ve not had that happen to me so can t be sure what I would do. It would seem sensible for Openrent to contact the landlord first before they accept anything or make a move
I would request that the prospective tenants provide background information and as Collin has said, the shortlist begins from there. A lock viewing if possible is then conducted before engaging any of the applicants in the process of paying a holding deposit. During viewing (not all of them turn up)! Further information comes to light and the more serious applicant will be determined.
I will have three in order of preference collect the holding deposit from the one that best meets my requirements and inform the others further to the amount of interest a referencing queuing system is in place and once outcome is known they would be contacted. An alternative way is to secure two applicants by referencing two at a time and returning the deposit of the one that does not get through.
First of all itâs the landlord that decides who to rent too. Itâs Very important to enter into dialogue with prospective tenants and itâs best doing this through Open Rent email. I always ask them to tell me something about them selves and you will be suprised at what some people will tell you. If they omit to tell you something ask them for this information, I always want to know their income if they donât earn enough there is no point in offering them an appointment. I have had it where someone has viewed my property and I always say âI will let you know if we would like to offer you this propertyâ but then they click Rent Now. When this happens you are messaged to say do you want to proceed. I personally do not like people doing this as it make me feel uneasy and my response is to reject them. Remember if in doubt keep them out. Choosing a tenant is very much down to gut feeling, asking lots of questions and making sure they provide proof of income etc.
This seems to me to be a big problem with trying to honestly assess multiple prospective tenants simultaneously. As soon as one places a deposit and you reference them, then the property is marked âLetting agreedâ on Openrent and completely removed from other websites. But no one has agreed to let anything. Someone has APPLIED to let it (and shown they are serious by paying a deposit) and they are being referenced. While you can separately reference other EXISTING applicants, it effectively takes your property off the market while you reference one or more prospective tenants.
I get the new law states you can only hold one deposit at a time, but that should not mean the property is effectively taken off the market prematurely.
A new labeling system is needed.
I agree with Barry! This is my first time using OpenRent and just 36 hours after listing and having 2 viewings (out of the 3 viewings I had arranged) the first viewer clicked Rent Now! In fact I want to be able to reference BOTH of them but what shows on the listing now is very misleading. I also donât like the wording within the referencing agreement page that says that if the tenant passes referencing I will go ahead and sign the tenancy agreement! I assume this is not legally binding! If they both pass I obviously still have that decision to make!