Hey landlords, AI real estate tech can't fix your lack of soft skills
Even if the renter and property manager are a match, customer service matters more
I’d grown fed up with my neighbors upstairs and needed a new place to live. I started strolling around the neighborhood, eyeing property management company names, observing lawns, viewing parking lots to see if there were stickers on cars and looking at how much leftover mail litter was left in lobbies. This tells you a lot about how a place is taken care of in multi-units, especially on the weekends. I kept passing one place with a balcony. The garden floor looked like an amazing place to rent if I wanted a dog (before I adopted one), and judging from what I could view of it, I was sold.
Recommended Read: “Landlords, tenant disputes and happy mediums ~ Lessons learned on the condo board that I wish I’d have known as a tenant”
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I called the property manager to get a walk-through of the rental location. That’s when I realized that the glass doors that looked so cool on the outside didn’t appear to be properly sealed from the inside. I asked about mouse infestation, considering this unit was so close to the ground. The property manager shrugged and said, “Haven’t heard anything.” No matter what question I asked, his responses were “I dunno” or it “never happened.” I got a vibe like he could take or leave me. Still, I really liked this place.
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I paid the deposit via PayPal for him to look into my background. I viewed the online posting for this location, which was glowing with compliments about how this rental would “go fast.” Then I went back to that same neighborhood and looked the place over again. I started spotting things I didn’t notice before — garbage piling over in the dumpster area, a parking lot gate latch that didn’t completely close and squirrels pacing around that same glass door by the balcony.