So we have a vacancy, not the most welcome thing with Omicron but there it is, they have given notice and will be out in a little over two months. I tried something new this time and set voicemail to come on as quickly as possible and then resisted the urge to answer calls. There have been hang ups but I either get brief messages with information, or, and this is important, the crazies and oddballs identify themselves.

In the past they would always call and I would always pick up, often leading to showings. I am being much more defensive about that. If contacts equal possible exposures I am trying to reserve showings for those who pass a basic screen of disqualifiers. Candidates with enormous dogs they wish to bring into our unit do not pass muster. Voicemail is very protective. Ooma's VOIP voicemail service is very good. We have their transcription service and providing the voicemail is not too long it will send a pretty accurate transcript of the voicemail to your email, so you do not even have to go on the webpage and listen to the recording, you just read it. I have been reading the advice on here for years, all calls go to voicemail. It has its advantages in these times.

I actually answer my phone but that's due to my business itself (and I honestly hate calling people back so if I can answer it, I will).

With that said, I use TurboTenant for my ads and they have a pre-screener that once the tenant inquires, the pre-screener immediately gets sent to them. If (when) they complete that, I look at the site and determine if they pre-qualify. The questions are standard and you can't change them, add to them, etc (I don't think, anyway) then if I have more and they "qualify" for what is asked, then I'll reach out to them.

Oh and TurboTenant also pushes the ads out to a bunch of other sites so I only have to post the one time which is awesome.

It has been a while since we have heard from you - was hoping all was alright up in the great white north.

Some yahoo called me at 12:15 AM. on Monday I didn't get the voicemail until 730ish that morning when I checked the phone. They wanted to know what the rental rate was on my 3 BRs. I sent them a text back saying that conducting a business call was inappropriate after midnight and simply disqualifies you out the gate.

Hi Ray-N-Pa, it was very good to see you at the convention, back when travel was more feasible.

I have been reading the site on and off, just haven't been in the mood to post. Maybe that is changing. Also to be truthful the rentals have been very quiet. Here the vacancy rate is extremely low as rents have risen to high levels and so tenants are staying put.

The current vacancy is the first one we have had in over a year. The unit in question is a two bedroom electrically heated townhouse that can be hard to lease. The rent is going up $199 from $1600 to $1799 and the tenants have only been there two years. It is a measure of the market and helps explain why the others are sitting tight, which with rent control is not the best news. We are getting lots of interest and I have not started showings yet, I am waiting until the formal notice period starts which is when showings normally begin here.

So things are getting to be more interesting with movement in the tenant pool. On the downside we have to run showings with people at a time at which Omicron is prevalent. We have N95s and three shots but there are no guarantees. I will be conducting showings quickly and at a six foot distance from prospects.

I have no problem with people calling at all ours. Our internet service provider answers calls 24/7. So do many other businesses. I sometimes can't sleep and send emails at 2 a.m. I don't expect people to respond until whatever hour they start working.

I don't answer the phone "all hours" lol ... I was just stating that if it rings and I'm available, I'll answer.

Stephen, you may want to check your rental amount that you are asking... if you are getting many inquiries and calls about it then it may be "too low". Check around ... you don't want it too high but you don't want to leave any money on the table either.

Case in point - last year I had a rental that I thought I was "stretching" the price at $775 (it was getting $700). I was inundated with inquiries. I took the ad down and stopped showing it (for a completely different reason) and then when we were ready to put it back up (about a month later) I put it at $825 and it was take within a week.

Same building, similar apartment (size, etc) went up two months later ... I listed at $925 ... gone in a week.

I'm not saying that I would get more than that now... but our rental prices are out of sight. If they are too high, you will know for sure ... no one will inquire. A decent site that I've used (especially since some areas don't even have rentals available right now) is "rentometer"... try it (it's free for the first few tries).

Be happy when losers screen themselves out. This applies tenants and also to vendors.