Prospective Tenants not happy for visit – Should this ring alarm bells?

Reply to the comment left by "Romain " at "24/07/2014 - 11:48":

I'm sorry, Romain, but your comment does not make any sense! If you wanted to borrow money off me I would want to know your financial background and if you had any history of being a rogue! So - the same applies surely - if you want to come and live in my house and pay rent then I have the right to know if you are an upstanding citizen and would look after my property. So I would ask, ASK, mind you, if you would mind me visiting you in your property. You are quite within your rights to refuse, but then that in itself would tell me what I wanted to know and I would look for a different tenant.......... If I am putting my property on the line then surely I have a right to know what kind of person is going to live in (look after) it???

I always do home visits before anyone gets into any of my properties, if they don't agree to this then there's definitely a rabbit off & I wouldn't go ahead with it. I've seen some awful home visits and I wouldn't let my worst enemy live in some of the places I've been too !!

Reply to the comment left by "Perfect Tenant" at "24/07/2014 - 11:56":

Of course.
However, in general a tenant also trusts his landlord with a key to his home so you could say he also has a valid reason to know whether the landlord is an 'upstanding citizen'.

It is not common request for a landlord to make and I can understand that the prospective tenant might feel uncomfortable about it.

Thus, I was gauging the reactions to a similar uncommon request from a prospective tenant. It could be visiting the landlord at home, or it could be visiting other tenants of that landlord at home, whatever.
If you would feel uncomfortable, then you could understand the prospective tenant's reaction here.

Of course, at the end of the day, if Gillian is free to draw her own conclusion from the prospective tenant's reaction.

Gillian,
We have lived and worked overseas for many years. As expatriates we have had to rent out our house whilst overseas. An empty house deteriorates more quickly than a lived in house. Luckily we have been able to arrange other accommodation for our annual return 'holiday'. Clearly if I am renting out my home I want the best tenant and I find that meeting them is one way of assessment. I also require a thorough check undertaken by the agent - who they work for and where they currently live. And references which I check out! Not just the 'standard credit check which I find 'a bit of a waste of time.' If the tenancy terminates whilst I am overseas, it is obviously more difficult to undertake these checks but we do have family who can help out .

In short if this were your home that you were renting out what do you think of the events? If the agent was surprised then get a new agent. In the area I live in my attitude is fairly commonplace. But I guess the landlord can be choosy in this area because of the demand.

Bottom line - a bad tenant can do much more damage than you can ever dream about. A good tenant will 'want' the house and do everything they can to get it. If they are 'not bothered' to jump the final hurdle then 'bye bye'. I'm afraid this exchange has not set a good start.

If you need the rent and don't have much choice then your risks are higher.

How do you know that the agent has even asked the prospective tenant, rather than just making up the answer to fob you off?

If you wish prospective tenants to be visited, then choose an agent that does it as standard for example “The national property group”.

I don’t think there is much benefit in visiting “high end” prospective tenants, as you can speak to the agent they are currently renting from, and they are very sueable if there is a problem. However at the lower end of the market, I believe the visit is well worth while.

Mike I think you have summed up the issue here. You look on the property as your home...it is a short term fix for your circumstances. Tenants are entering into a contractural relationship with you which in their eyes is a business deal.

What happens if your tenant lives abroad and is coming to UK or lives in Wales, Ireland or Scotland.....would you or your family visit them? I know of Landlords who would reject a tenant because their "body" language was wrong!!

A good agent should be able to assess/interpret/gut feeling and ask the right questions before obtaining a full profile reference. If you take control who is liable?

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Woodhead" at "24/07/2014 - 12:45":

Tenants side stepped my request to sign up the new lease, in their current home. And sure enough, 4-months later they turned out to be cannabis growers, by which time they'd wrecked my premises.

ive had a few bad tenants over the years, looking back the signs were there on meeting tenants and my gut reaction was always right. you cant do enough checking and if something bothers you my advice is to wait for another tenant. don't be in a rush to let to the first tenant that comes along, better to loose a few quid at the start of a tenancy whist waiting for the right tenant than loosing a lot more at the end if it goes pear shaped

1) My neighbour started renting just 8 weeks ago. We had an issue over the fence and I suggested we ask the landlord to join us - He went Ape!. When I booked a meeting with the landlord he cancelled it. Something is very wrong and I am concerned for the landlord now, especially as he agreed a long let! O well. -
2) I had a LHA prospective tenant - We explained that as its a 4 bed and £1000pcm we would like to visit her at home to speak about the amount - We also asked her(and the council) to show us how she would afford it. - She was happy to do both. - She is now our tenant.
Allan

Ultimately this comes down to the type of person you are dealing with and how they react to the question. If a tenant refuses there are usually two reasons for this, they have not kept there current property up to a standard which would be deemed acceptable and therefore will not be suitable in which case i would run a mile. Or they feel the question is an accusation and in effect a threat and therefore react accordingly. I have found that it is the actual presence of the future landlord/agent in there home and the associated worry/stress which goes with it that stops them from allowing access. A technique i have used in the past which reduces the intrusive element, albeit technology dependent for both landlord, agent and tenant, is using facetime/skype which allows you to view inside the potential tenants home without the supposed intrusion of being physically present at the property. Obviously i appreciate that if they really wanted to rent your property they should act in a manor which allows you to eliminate risk for your peace of mind, but you also have to accommodate different personalities and peoples interpretation of the question.