Recently a client asked me if I could help him find a new tenant for a condo I had helped him purchase.
“Why is your tenant moving?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“Well then let’s find out why.” I said.
We called the tenant and asked her why she was moving. She said she loved the condo, but had already signed another lease. She was saving money to buy a house.
It has been my experience that when asked a direct question, most people won’t give their real answer. In fact, the real answer is usually the 3rd one they give.
“How much will you be saving?” I asked. After some quick, back-of-the-envelope calculations, it turned out she’d be saving about $200 a month. Not enough to buy a house.
“Is there anything else you don’t like about the condo?” I asked.
She finally admitted the real issue.
“The water makes my hair orange, and the carpet is dirty,” she said. The tenant was a hair dresser, so her hair was very important to her. The carpet was the old gold commercial carpet found in every apartment. The tired look made it feel dirty. The landlord had planned to replace it for the next tenant.
“So why didn’t you tell your landlord this before you found another apartment?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess it was because he had been good to me and I didn’t want to be a hassle.”
What we had here was a lack of communication. The carpet needed to be changed anyway, so I’m sure the landlord would have changed the carpet to keep the old tenant. And water softeners are cheaper than losing a month’s rent.
In the end, the lack of communication cost both parties money. If you are a renter, don’t be afraid to talk to your landlord. If you’re a landlord, ask your tenant if there are problems. The same goes for home buyers and sellers.
Communication will benefit both of you in the long run.