I have decided to start this ongoing blog to share with you my experiences as a prospective tenant. I believe that one of the best ways to improve process and service is to be a client of your business or industry. So lets see how the leasing system works for me.
My property manager hand delivered my notice to vacate as she wanted to tell me face to face how sorry she was that I had to move. A very lovely and unexpected gesture. Unfortunately I wasn't at home so she left the notice under the door and emailed me.
One of key areas that many of us often fail to deliver on or understand is empathy on how the client is feeling. We get so busy doing our jobs, processing applications and people that really connecting with what our clients are going through emotionally can become irrelevant.
I have been in my property for over 3 years and for all intents and purposes it is my home. Somewhere in the back of my mind I am very aware that at some point I may have to move however it isn't something we think about at all.
My kids and I have created a lovely home here, the location is perfect and we can afford the rent. We are emotionally tied into this property even though we rent.
When I got the notice through on my email, I actually sat there, disconnected from the teleconference I was on and thought - what do I do now, they are taking my home away! My emotional stress levels kicked into top gear and panic set in as to what now. Where are we going to go, how much more am I going to pay, *$^& I have to pack the house up, this is going to cost me money I hadn't budgeted for, what if I don't find a property..... etc etc
Dramatic - ofcourse, but that is how I felt.
60 days isn't that long a time, especially as over the next 30 I am travelling, so going to inspections will be challenging.
The first thing I did was to jump onto realestate.com and see what was on the market. That is when the full realisation hit in.
Not enough stock and I would need to pay more for the type of property I am looking for.
So started my journey of dealing with my industry as a tenant.
Day one
- set up my profile on realestate.com and I trawl through 2 pages of property in the suburbs that I have selected
- realise that most property managers take terrible photos, why I am interested in a photo of the tiles of a back yard, or a close up of a toilet, why are we not taking professional photos of properties in the top end of the market?
- the hero shots really need to capture my attention otherwise I will skip past it
- why do we not have floor plans especially for the top end properties
- virtual tours are fantastic but again few and far between
- inspection times are not listed on a number of properties, why is it that by Thursday we don't have them listed on the internet so I can plan my Saturday
- calls are not answered and certainly not returned, if you have your mobile number listed on the internet then can I suggest to you that if I leave a message I expect you will return my call
- a third bedroom is one where I can easily put in a bed and most certainly swing a cat in! Please stop advertising a study as a third bedroom
- ensure that your reception staff, who clearly are there to assist you in the volume of calls that you take, are aware of the properties listed and open times. Sample dialogue "umm, sorry you will need to spell the name of the street as I am not sure we have it for rent" Ahh yes you do, its on the internet!
- Thurs morning call to find out an open time dialogue - "sorry, we don't have an open time, you will need to call back later today if you want to know when it is open, or keep checking the internet"
I have been given 60 days notice, this is day one of my search for a property.
I have met one leasing agent who has returned my call, met me at a time that worked for both of us and I felt really wanted to help me find a property.
One agent out of 10 I have called or met so far.
So lets see what the weekend brings.
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