Hi, This is my first time listing a rental on Openrent (I paid for additional listing on Rightmove and Zoopla).
I’ve received several enquiries (via openrent) that are voicemails.
How do I respond to these, or where do I find the callers phone number?
Cheers, Sam
PS. I also noticed that not all photos are included on Rightmove and Zoopla, Why?
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Where to begin…
I would suggest you make sure you have the screening questions set up, but not just the openrent standard ones, but your own custom questions. There are many threads about what should be included in these questions.
The voicemails… well, up to you whether to pursue or not, personally I don’t follow up any of them as I want answers to screening questions first which filters out 80% of the applicants. I don’t want to call back each voicemail person and have to have an awkward conversation with no filtering applied. There are exceptions of course, sometimes good applicants make genuine mistakes and think that leaving a voicemail is just part of the process.
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I don’t get this. If you’ve got the voicemails then they called your phone. If they called your phone then you’ve got their numbers, no? 
Wrong, its voicemails received in response to viewings which show on Openrent messages, not directly to the Landlords mobile.
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Thanks Graham. Yes I have my own screening questions including Phone Number. However, from 16 responses, 1 left a phone number. I’m not sure if people responding to a Rightmove advert by voicemail see my questions.
Perhaps my original question was not clear. Is there a way to find the callers number from Openrent?
Sam
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Yes, when in the message, click on ‘request contact details’ under the persons profile picture
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seriously, if the applicants you’re getting a) can’t read enough to answer your questions or spot your phone number, b) don’t bother to leave their number for you to contact them and c) don’t follow up with you to find out why you’ve not immediately been in touch, then evolutionary theory says that they aren’t the fittest applicants in the pot.
If you’re desperate though, why not just message them on OR and give them your number asking them to get in touch?
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Yes, I have asked Openrent if they can scrap the whole voicemail thing but they think its an important part of their service to potential renters. It is so rare that a VM person leaves answers to screening questions, in fact I don’t think it has ever happened to me. It puts the entire onus back on you, hence I no longer bother listening to them.
you could make that explicit in your screening message. I ask applicants to call me, give my LL number and tell them that I won’t proceed unless they do. That way, no matter what form of message they leave on OR, it’s irrelevant unless they follow the instructions and ring me.
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Thanks Karl
I dont see an option to request contact details, and where the picture should be there is a greyed out avatar, with ‘Not Provided’. Surely there is some way that Openrent can identify the calling number and forward that with the voicemail.
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The option ‘request contact details’ is clearly visable about 2 inches below the greyed out avatar on all of my enquiries, on my PC.
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Its worth having a phone with 2 sim slots then have a sim for all the screening then once you sign someone up give them your personal sim number for future use then take out your screening sim . Alternatively have a 2nd phone for screening purposes that you turn off when the process is complete.
That’s not how OpenRent works tatemono
I ignore the voicemails and only accept written enquiries that have answered the screening questions.
what’s not how OR works? I can’t see which of my messages you’ve replied to.
FWIW, I’ve been using OR for years and it’s working fine for me 
Well, that response suggests that you don’t know how it works
how so?
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What graham says in his two posts are spot on, I suggest you follow his wise advice
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