When you are showing a vacancy in a Class C hood and some one asks "What is this neighborhood like ?" What do you tell them? Do you tell the truth here? Plead the 5th Amendment ?

I tell them just facts: type of street it's on ( no thru traffic), location of police station. I suggest they drive around and get a feel for the neighborhood themselves, both daytime and after dusk

I cant rent ya the neighborhood.

Feel free to call the local police department and/or

neighborhood association,

When YOU drive into a unfamiliar neighborhood, what are the 'visual clues' that would make you wonder whether this is a good or bad neighborhood?

I have signed up for regular updates on crimes committed in the surrounding areas of each of our places. The number one crime I see committed is Assault, usually Assault on a Female. So basically Domestic Violence...sad but true.

I tell them to look around and drive around the neighborhood. I'm not going to open my mouth and say something stupid. You could easily fall into steering

Thanks Roy, just minded me of something else I can tell them. The neighborhood is all single family homes, no duplexes or apt buildings, or commercial or industrial. that is a fact!

WMH,

The truth would be:

YOU know I've never lived here so I don't know what to say about that. The last tenant/Resident never said they had any problems. You know now a days there's problems every where.

Don't continue beyond that point.

Myob,

What really irritates me is when a rental prospect tells me that a friend of hers (who has never lived in the neighborhood) has told her that section of town is a bad neighborhood. Once a rental prospect gets a negative opinion inside their head, there is nothing I can say or do to change that even when the low-crime rate facts would prove otherwise.

Fellow Landlords

When I am asked this neighborhood question, my stock answer is: 'Go knock on the doors of the people who currently live in this neighborhood and ask them. They know this neighborhood much better than I do.' Rental prospects never do this however, and just go ask someone who has never lived in the neighborhood.

Roy, I agree about the DV! That's the number one crime reported from all our different areas, not just the Class C so I'm honest with them about that.

Part of my speech to a prospective tenant are my "Three Rules:"

1) Pay your rent. If you can't pay your rent, borrow it from your own family, not from us.

2) Be a good neighbor. No "Drama in the Driveway." No cops unless they are your friends. We are not going to be THAT house in the neighborhood.

3) Take care of the place. You don't need to be a handyman, but you need to let US fix things in a timely manner. Don't think "Oh I don't want to bother them..." because the small leak can do massive damage. BOTHER US!

All of this to make sure they know we won't tolerate residents in our properties to contribute to any possible neighborhood issues, either by their behavior or the condition of the property.

You DON'T know what they mean by "how is the neighborhood". I tell them "I don't live here but when I'm here (many different days and times" it is typically like this" as long as it is, obviously. OR I say "this particular property has not had any issues and typically the tenants stay a few years".

Again, as long as that is the truth. MOST prospects will already have their opinion or should know. If they ask you on the phone then I would tell them "do a drive by and call me back if you are interested in viewing the property".

The ones that show up and ask but then say "well so-n-so said..." tick me off. Why are you even waisting my time at this point? They usually don't have anything better to do in my opinion.

Roy saw your next post about getting "irritated" -- we all know what you mean here.

We have a cure for what you discribe. Our first requirement of any prospect is:

We ask you to drive by and check out the home and area. If it's an area your interested in call us and we'll set up an appointment to view the inside. We have a flyer in the window and the blinds are all up so please walk around-- you can see almost everything.

Roy some will try to miss this step by saying "OH I know the area" -- but we insist they drive by.

BTW Roy this flyer we hang-- will list other properties we have COMING AVAILABLE. You had posted earlier about how to do multiples-- we do our initial listing -- only 1 property - but will have others on the flyer- some will say "this home is currently occupied so we ask that you just ride by and not disturb our Residents who live there. Most will abide by that.

The neighborhoods here are all well zoned, they are very uniform so no one is surprised.

David, I *emphasize* how small our places are in the titles LOL! "Tiny Home" "Cute Cottage" etc. I also remove bedrooms from the listing if not in fact: a three-bedroom is listed as a two, and a two-bedroom is listed as a one. We sometimes remove closets and/or doors to ensure the "bonus" room is not a legal bedroom.

wmh , i do the same by emphasizing that the basement does not have egress windows , so can't use basement as bedroom.

Unlike our nearest city, Vegas, 100 mi away, where crime can occur anywhere, in our town the "Haves and Have Nots," are clearly deliniated. The "wrong side of the tracks," where our rentals were is C-D. My apts were in the best part of the C zone. (Sidewalks and no window bars.) We had some mobiles for awhile in "felony flats," a D area that starts a few blocks from my office. 90% of our city's crime occurs there or in another area we call old town.

Like WMH said in our town most crime is drug or domestic violence involved. With growing petty and violent crime. Last year the pd had a "warrant amnesty." We had 3,800 active warrants in a town of 40,000. 10% of the population was on the lam - and in felony flats it was probably 50%.

Conversely we live "on the Hill," in the newer part of town, mostly built since 2000. Consists of several upper "B" to "A" HOA communities. This is where the retirees from CA mostly move to. You can insulate and never see the bad part of town if you wish. I can't remember the last time I saw a cop here. Because of this disparity it is pretty clear which area you are in. One has dead cars stacked on dirt lawns and "walking dead" wandering around. The other is manicured, clean and nice.

"What do you tell them? Do you tell the truth here? Plead the 5th Amendment ?"

Always, Always, Always tell the truth, in response to this question and all others.

False or misleading answers to this type of question can land you in court.

dlb GA we have a policy here in our GA office. No matter what the applicant or tenant says it's a lie until verified. We aren't wrong to often. Just the way it is.

I say that because you say always 3x's and I ask 3x's why why why do I have to tell the truth?

And all others-- u be dreamin!!!!!

Always tell the truth-- like the time the tenant told the judge I stole all her stuff and it took me 3 days to get out of jail and a years wait for trial to be found not guilty-- and she gets 1 year probation for the false arrest claim? That kind of honesty?

I always disclose the truth. I give them an official online access to local crimes in the neighborhood.

On person who wanted to rent an apartment of mine used their cellphone to access this information while looking at the unit. They came back that this must be a terrible neighborhood with all of the crime. They had set the parameters to a 5 block area.

The 7-Eleven had a robbery, someone walked off without paying for a drink. A car had been broken into, left on a main street for 3 days.

I then had the person expand their parameters to 5 miles. And wow, it may my area look like there was no crime. All surrounding areas had more serious crimes. Assaults, home invasions, cars stolen, etc. My area only had some small stuff, like 3 a month while all of the other areas had crimes almost every day.

I don't say anything and my lock box can't talk. ;-)

In all seriousness, since I started doing lock box showing no one has asked me this question. I hadn't thought about that until just now.

Back when I used to show in-person I'd respond generically, "I really like the vintage look." Or "I've never had any problems."