I have a single retired woman (corporate type) who seems to be Class A ( she is paying Class A rents where she lives now) and wants to downsize her life and save some money by moving into a less expensive rental. On Thursday she is going to drive 200 miles from another state just to see my rental house which is Class C. I have e-mailed her photos of my house and have tried to explain to her that this neighborhood is probably a little different than the neighborhood you live in now. I even gave her the racial mix of the neighborhood and that did not phase her. Her mind is made up, she is driving 200 miles from another state just to see my little 2/1 house which was advertised as "Cute and Cozy" because it is kind of small. My rents are half of what she is paying now.

I don't have any experience with Class A tenants. She has stocks, bonds, money in the bank, 800 credit score, and an impeccable background and credit history. She would seem to be the ideal tenant to have.

I have a feeling that all she is thinking right now is about saving a bunch of money on rent.

If it is still available show it to her but don't expect a whole lot.

I've had two Class A applicants/tenants look at/rent the same house. It's a cute 3 bedroom, 1 bath yellow stucco cottage in a neighborhood that most "Class A" folks might not be comfortable in.

One stayed for a year then purchased her own home not too far from mine. Said she never felt worried about being there despite having to work late sometimes.

The other was an older woman and when she came to view it apologized as she walked up telling me she did not think she could "live in this neighborhood". Her loss as she has just driven 80 miles to come and view it and would not even walk into the place.

Homer,

Most of my buildings were once is "C" class area's. But I spent time in the City Planner's office and saw what was coming over the next couple of decades. A subway system. A arts district. Shopping centers and less car dealerships.

Over time I got my "C" tenants out and got "A" and "B" replacement.

They love the area now. Transportation, shopping. My building has a common outdoors patio with lots of trees, plants, scrubs and wildlife. The units have new flooring, paint, appliances, blinds, etc.

They can live in the West Side and pay $2500 for a 1 bedroom with lots of traffic and only a city bus for transpiration. Or live in my "C" turned into a "B" area and pay $1500 a month and have less traffic, a larger unit, more space around the property and lots of public transportation. With the extra $1000 a month, they can enjoy things that they never thought they could afford.

Another story.....

My smallest house (2 bedroom, 1 bath; under 900 square feet) is also my cheapest house. Extra foot traffic as it's one block away from a busy street with lots of fast food restaurants and a Spirit/Seven/Eleven type store open 24/7. Many in the neighborhood don't seem to have cars or just walk to these places. Sometimes it's entertaining to sit on the front porch and watch the folks drift by.

Each time I have it up for rent I'll have a "Melissa" or a "Jennifer" who want to see it. I'll schedule them knowing that they may not like the neighborhood.

Once a young lady wanted to see it during the time I was at work. My son offered to show it. Right before her appointment two women down the block got into a knock down, drag out fight (probably over the same baby daddy). They took the fight out into the street and someone called the cops.

When the potential applicant showed up she got to see two cop cars, two women wrestling with each other and still screaming and about six neighbors in the sidelines all enjoying the show. Matthew said her eyes got as big as saucers. All he could say was "So...do you want to see the inside of the house?"

Ken,

I would love to have this woman as my tenant. She is a breath of fresh air considering my usual applicants.

I did not ever once tell her she was not right for this neighborhood,...I just put a bug in her ear trying to get her realize this not a 'gated community' that she is living in now. Before she makes a 200 mile trip, I just wanted her to know something about the neighborhood. This is not a bad neighborhood,...it just not a gated one with 24/7 security.

If she is LEGIT rest assured she has checked out the town - your house and the neighborhood. Retired cooperates, as you say, don't normally make hasty decisions.

If I remember, you do the face to face - after that you will know.

Roy....listen to me and Ken carefully. YES, what you did by "providing her a racial profile of the neighborhood" could be considered steering.

There was a case not too long ago where a property manager was sued and lost in court because he said, "There's a church just a block away."

What's so offensive about that? Well, nothing to most folks, but the prospect in question had a Muslim background. Wasn't even currently practicing, but because "church" usually equates to "Christian" it was construed as religious discrimination.

Will you get sued? I hope not, and I would say it is unlikely since someone usually has to be 1) ticked off 2) want to pay a lawyer or go thru the hassle to get a free one and 3) most people are too lazy. But did you violate Federal Fair Housing rules? The courts would likely say "yes."

Don't do it again. Whenever someone asks you, "How's the neighborhood?" I tell them, "I think it's great! That's why we are happy to manage this property."

Let them do their own research and draw their own conclusions.

It can go either way.

Our first house was a rental on a good block in a really bad neighborhood. (As in, like, an ice cream man was murdered for $20 a few blocks away kind of bad.) We were both working full-time and pursuing advanced degrees. We lived there for about five years while we got our foundation developed, and figured out where life was taking us.

Your person is single and retired, so she's not quite in that boat--- but if she's considering relocating 200 miles, there's (a) something to attract her to the area, and (b) something she wants to do with the money she saves on rent that makes it worthwhile to relocate. It might be family. It might be arts/culture related. It might be a major transportation hub. Figure out what her motivation is on both those issues, and see if it's proportional and makes sense. She may be a person who is satisfied with "clean/safe/functional" so she can spend her money on spending three months in Europe every year. Or she may be someone who's setting up a situation for a bait-and-switch. You don't know at this point.

Let her look. Make sure she understands that if she takes the house there is an early termination clause in the lease.

She's moving 200 miles to save money, so she is budgeting her retirement. Many of us have discovered that retirement funds that should have supported us have been eroded away by inflation and low bank interest rates.

I used to rent old mobile homes and my tenants often had 800 credit scores and if they liked the place when they first looked they lived there without problems ... although those were in great locations, not dangerous neighborhoods.

When asked "what is the neighborhood like", I answer "I've never had any problems there but if you are worried about it, you can take the address and call the local police on the non-emergency number and ask about police calls to the neighborhood"

Sid,

During a house showing, when an applicant asks me "What is the neighborhood like?",...my usual answer is: 'anytime you drive into an unfamiliar neighborhood, you either get a 'good feeling' or an 'uneasy feeling' which is based on what your individual perceptions are. What one person perceives as bad, to another person it is no big deal.

I do not think I committed an act of steering. If I had tried to get her to only look at my Class A or B properties (which I don't have),...that would have been steering.

I wish you were coming to the convention so that we could continue this discussion off line. So far, I have been accused of steering and if I can continue this discussion here, I will surely get accused of something else that is not true. I wish I had never made this post.

Jeffrey,

All I did was provide this applicant some FACTS about this neighborhood. The real question here should be,..'when did telling the truth become a crime?'

Roy (and Jasper), you might find the following short article interesting. I know you are not Realtors or in North Carolina, but most of the points would apply to landlords in any state.

www.ncrealtors.org/wp-content/uploads/LegalQA071119.pdf

When did telling the truth become a crime? When "Fair Housing" demagogues took to persecuting people who unwittingly make statements like yours, that violate their social agenda. Demographic information should never be provided by a landlord. A landlord should refer the prospect to investigate demographic information to their own satisfaction by investigating police and municipal resources. When an applicant asks "What is the neighborhood like?" - that is a red flag to me that the person is probably a Fair Housing Tester.

I would rent to her in a heartbeat if she’s qualified.

I have two lower end mobile homes, single wide from the 1960s. The good thing is they are on residential lots in neighborhoods with site built houses as well.

I have almost always attracted way over qualified people for these rentals. When I was convinced they’d be disappointed by them, I was wrong.

One rented from me for 8 years and eventually he bought one of my single family homes. The home he bought from me was even smaller than the mobile he rented from me. He just loves his little cottage house!

The other one has tenants who have been there six years. Way over qualified. They plan to buy it from me later this year and are paying cash.

Ok, I have told people the neighborhood is like the "United Nations" and that we have people from everywhere.

As others have posted, mentioning "racial mix" is a serious violation. In a real estate law class I attended, I was told you can't even answer those types of questions when asked by the prospect or tenant, no matter how truthful or helpful.

I would suspect that she is not driving 200 miles to look at just your property. We relocated 200 miles away and I looked at 6 or 8 places over 2 days.

Fair housing is a bear trap waiting to trap you in some sort of way. Be wary. Be very wary. And this is premium fair housing material.

My guess is, she's splitting from a long term relationship and her income is going way down.

I thought I was living in the United States of America in the land that has a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that protected 'free speech',... at least as long as the truth was being told.

What all of this really boils down to is 'political correctness' that has just been pushed to beyond the outer limits! Has it come down to the point to where no one can speak the truth anymore just because we so afraid that we may offend someone?

Gevans,

If the A Class resident is recently separated, her move might make sense.

Can't wait to hear the outcome on this. I ALWAYS talk too much, always say to myself, not going to do it this time & then I do.

I'm beginning to consider turning ours over to an agent to avoid stuff like this. 10% may be WAY less costly & for sure less headache at our age.

All landlord's children should be, in this order:

lawyer, ac repair, plumber, carpenter, tile installer, lawn care, accountant.

I have 10 class C single family homes that are clean, updated, and mostly cute.

Part of my ad on Craig's list say" drive by the home and check out the neighborhood. If you then have an interest and qualifying income, call me for a discussion on the property".

Many are selling their rental homes in my area.

This is making my homes more valuable to Class B and even Class A families.

I have very little turnover unless someone is moving out of the area.

I have not had a late payment in 22 months.

As I frequently comment LLs are often sued by what they say.

Me: everyone is welcome to submit an application.

So many of these problems disappear when the prospect never submits.

Also, some LLs get into these pickles because they don't provide much info. So we post tons of pics and video walkthru on oir website so they know what to expect. Carefully selected pics but not sugar coated.

Last point: we cannot decide for them or figure them out. They only tell us what they want is to know and hide the rest. Often by lying.

BRAD .

I tell class A tenants its not Beverly hills around here. I never mention race. Don't mention race, and certainly don't make a decision based on that. Most class A will bail. I'm honest and don't think it will work. Even if they move in there's a good chance they will move. The big one for me is if they paid rent in the past with the money they earned. Can they prove it with receipts? Most can't. In my area, I'm lucky to get the best of the worst.