Etiquette for Apartment Showing
VACANT RENTALS
Arrive early to show respect for prospective tenants’ time. You can also check on the rental, take a deep breath, and be ready for a proper greeting.
When your guests arrive, be warm and sincere to welcome apartment shoppers into this space. If everyone feels at home at at ease, it makes it easy to say yes to a property. Set the tone with a kind greeting.
Keep your smartphone in your pocket — devices are a distraction that hinders rapport and can cause you to miss important factors as well. By removing the distraction of a phone, you can focus on subtle body language or comments that offer important insight into who will potentially live in your community. //
Be polite — treat your guest with respect. Don’t interrupt them, smile warmly, make good eye contact, and use respectful language. Examples include “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, sir,” as well as “Thank you.”
Body language — Your body language speaks at least as much as your words. the way you carry yourself sends messages to prospective clients. Crossed arms, bad eye contact, and closed-off postures can make guests feel unwelcome. Consider your body language, and you may find benefits if you practice your speeches in the mirror.
Use empathy —. Kindness is always the best way to do anything in live. It makes sense that it’s also the most important part of showing an apartment. Apartment hunting isn’t much fun for anybody — it’s stressful, daunting, expensive, and challenging. You can show kindness to your tenants and prospective clients, and you can be empathetic to their needs.
OCCUPIED APARTMENTS
To show an apartment that is currently occupied, you’ll want to be careful about how you treat your current renters, especially if you have had a difficult relationship with a tenant.
If you are showing a leased property, set appointments during normal weekday business hours. This is best unless you have come to a mutual agreement with your tenant to show the apartment other days and times. Make sure to let the current tenant know your approximate showing times. Research your state laws concerning how often and when you can enter a rental unit.
You may politely ask the current renters to secure any pets and keep the unit tidy before guests arrive — if you wait to ask when you show up, it is probably too late.
If you would like the renter to participate in the process of showing the apartment, communicate with them beforehand. A happy renter can be a great asset, though of course an unhappy renter can be a liability. With that in mind, make sure to stay in good contact with your renters to set expectations before showing the apartment.
You can show gratitude to helpful renters by offering things like incentives, rent concessions, gift certificates, and other gifts. Make sure there are signs up reading something like “Do not disturb the occupants — Shown by appointment only.” This will help prevent the current tenants from being bothered by nosy apartment hunters.