Often landlords get burned because they “hold” a rental house for a future resident who was approved and seemed like they would be a good renter. Unfortunately, for various reasons the future resident changes their mind and the landlord has to once again scramble to find another acceptable applicant. In the meantime valuable time and money has been lost while the property was on hold. While there is no way to totally avoid situations where an applicant changes their mind about moving into a house, there are several things a landlord can do to reduce the possibility of losing time and money when that situation occurs. One way is never “HOLD” a property for someone. This line of thinking is suggested by Brad 20K, one of the regular contributors to MrLandlord’s Q&A forum and Landlord Convention. The following are Brad’s comments on the topic:

We never hold houses. Why should I lose 14 days of rent while they continue to shop around? There are tons of discussion posts about landlords losing money with HOLD agreements. Our policy is very simple and ALWAYS works: The rent starts the day we sign the lease, collect the funds, and take it off the market. We keep marketing until it’s rented. You’ll be amazed how many of those “Will you hold it for me” requests turn into signed leases today when you keep moving forward. Works like a charm. Stay in control. — BRAD

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