Answering Questions From Parents: Landlord Edition

By Francine Fluetsch on June 29, 2016

As a landlord in a college town, you are bound to come across eager renters who are forced to have their parents in tow — and these parents are going to come in and fire away at you with questions. Their kid is about to live on their own for the first time, so cut them some slack in this regard, but it might be helpful to know what kinds of questions the parents will have so you’ll have calming answers at the ready.

Safety:

Safety is probably the No.1 concern of a parent as their child is about to venture off into the world of living off campus. Parents will fire off questions like: Does the house have an alarm system? Are their flood lights when someone passes by? Have their recently been crimes reported in the neighborhood? Is there night security? And so on. Their kid will probably be rolling their eyes, but the parents are right in asking all these questions.

Since you know these are coming, I’d advise you to install an alarm system and flood lights if you don’t already have them, and to look up if the neighborhood has night security and what the crime rate numbers are so you will be able to give compelling, true answers that will put the parents’ minds at ease and give you an in with them. Remember, they are probably the ones who are paying some, if not all, of the rent, so they are the ones that you really want to impress.

The parking situation:

Many places don’t guarantee students parking, so if your place does, this will be a great selling point. If the place doesn’t come with guaranteed parking, make sure you know great locations for the students to park, how safe/far away those locations are, and what they will need to do in order to park there. For instance, some cities make street parkers get a permit through the DMV, and in order to get this, you have to give proof, through a mailed document, that you actually live there. If you can give all these specifics to the parents before they even have a chance to get mad that there isn’t guaranteed parking, you will be ahead of the game and will be able to keep them calm.

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Terms of rent:

Parents are going to ask you the nitty gritty details of the contract, even if you have it in writing. Why they can’t just read it and take the fine print’s word for it, I don’t know, but be prepared to answer their questions on how much the security deposit is and when it will be due, if they will have to cosign or not, how the student will be able to get the security deposit back, if the rent is month-to-month or a yearly contract, if the student can sublet, if the utilities are included, and so on.

To answer these, politely highlight the best parts of the contract first in your own words, and then show them in the contract to make clear that you are being true to your word. They will nod along and become more comfortable with you the more that your word matches up with the contract.

If they mention something that is not in the contract for whatever reason, make sure to submit it to them in written form as soon as possible, so there are no mix-ups down the road.

The party situation:

Parents are usually very concerned that their kids will party too much if they move off campus, so they might ask you how the location is about partying in general. If you know that the area has a noise policy, you can tell them this and watch their faces light up. If you aren’t sure how the situation is in your area, stake it out sometime. If you don’t hear anything, you can let them know that it is a pretty quiet neighborhood, and if you do hear a lot of partying going on, maybe just say you don’t know. Do not admit to them that a lot of parties happen around there, or it might be game over.

What their child is responsible for:

Parents are also going to see exactly what they can get you to take care of, and what their child, or inevitably themselves, will have to deal with. This can be talking about repairs, damages, complaints of the unit or neighbors, and so on, and what it would mean for their child to break a rule or not pay something on time. Do not get alarmed by all these questions, they simply want to know how they will have to dig their kid out of the hole should they find themselves there.

Make sure that the contract details what you will take care of and what the tenant will have to do for themselves so you can clear up any confusion on that matter for the parents.

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