Can A Landlord Show My Condo Before I am Finished Renting It?

[russianrobert]

Hey guys,

Can a landlord have people come into the condo I'm renting and show it to them, when I haven't finished my lease yet? I have approximately 60 days until the lease ends, and I don't feel like being cooperative in the slightest.

I want to extend my lease another year, and the landlord said it's okay but he wants to double the rent.

Where I come from this is bullshit, but this is thailand, and I'm just going to find another place. In the meantime though I don't feel like playing host to people that are going to rent from under me.

Any advice?

The problem with renting is that it is not necessarily a stable situation. The owner can ask you to leave at the end of the lease.

HE DOES'NT EVEN NEED A REASON. If he feels he can get double the rent, that's his right. Count yourself lucky he didn't kick you out halfway through the lease.

That's life and move on is my advise. He has the right to show other people around if he arranges a time with you first. Being unreasonable is not a good idea.

Edited August 16, 2008 by russianrobert

[skettios]

Let the guy show his apartment. Why is it that you dont "feel like it?".

Thats mature.

Hey Moonfruit. Is it unreasonable to expect that since I'm paying to rent an apartment, I should get some privacy for my money?

Would you show the hotel room you stayed in to the next guest before you had checked out? hel_l, I know people that hate it when someone points at what they are eating in a restaurant.

Most people wouldn't even show their own private homes to a buyer until they had moved out of it. Now people will argue that there are other reasons for doing that, but it remains that it is very uncomfortable for many people to have someone come and examine the place where they live. I mean, my poor girlfriend has to hide her underwear every time the guy comes over.

Landlords naturally want to squeeze as much money out of their properties as they can, but that doesn't mean that their rights are more important than mine. They shouldn't expect to have all of their properties continuously occupied, and frankly it would be better for him to try and rent the place without me in it anyway.

Do people in your life walk all over you? Sorry, I don't do things that way.

Thaihome, I agree with you that Bangkok is a 'free market', but this would be the first time I've ever seen such a drastic increase in the value of a property. I lived in Taiwan for many years, which is also free market, and never had landlord increase the rent after a lease was completed. It is also very possible that I got the place undermarket. In fact, the previous owner could have been the one setting the price of the property, and now I suspect that the condo has been purchased by the rental company and they have moved the price to be in line with their other properties.

Now I think that this is a bit unfair, because I don't feel that Bangkok is really free market. There seems to be a Thai market, which is very free, and features some extremely cheap housing if you can find it. Then there is an alternate farang market, where rental companies make properties very accessible to foreigners but really jack the rents up on them. That's not free market in my opinion, but so be it.

Lingnoi, you must really love my ass to have come back and checked in on this thread so many times to see if I replied. Don't worry sweetheart, I haven't forgotten about you. Troll.

As for the rest of you, thanks for the sympathy and the ideas. I think I can handle this one. I'm still interested in what kind of rights renters have in Bangkok, and definitely would appreciate any stories you would care to share.

Edited August 16, 2008 by skettios

[grahamhc]

Just an observation.....

The OP says the landlord want to DOUBLE the rent, but never quoted what it was. Maybe 3,500 Baht to 7,000 Baht or possibly from 20,000 to 40,000 Baht. Now the second figure sound unlikely.

Another post commented that he knew the OP was an "English Teacher". They are reputed to have a very low income level - Read the numerous posts on TV about low salaries...

Logically, a teacher cannot afford the 20K place, so likely to be the 3.5K place...

Now we ask, what is the NORMAL RENT FOR THAT AREA? Is the new rent above or below that figure?

I have lived in many rented places, and do so now, and always let the landlord show prospective tenants over the flat or house. This way I protect my chances of getting my deposit back IN FULL, and it has NEVER failed.

Making the place messy to put people off will not do so, as the landlord will explain he had a "Farang A-hole Tenant " and that is why he is leaving / being thrown out. DECENT tenents will understand. The other type he does not want.

[skettios]

Just an observation.....

The OP says the landlord want to DOUBLE the rent, but never quoted what it was. Maybe 3,500 Baht to 7,000 Baht or possibly from 20,000 to 40,000 Baht. Now the second figure sound unlikely.

Another post commented that he knew the OP was an "English Teacher". They are reputed to have a very low income level - Read the numerous posts on TV about low salaries...

Logically, a teacher cannot afford the 20K place, so likely to be the 3.5K place...

Now we ask, what is the NORMAL RENT FOR THAT AREA? Is the new rent above or below that figure?

I have lived in many rented places, and do so now, and always let the landlord show prospective tenants over the flat or house. This way I protect my chances of getting my deposit back IN FULL, and it has NEVER failed.

Making the place messy to put people off will not do so, as the landlord will explain he had a "Farang A-hole Tenant " and that is why he is leaving / being thrown out. DECENT tenents will understand. The other type he does not want.

Yeah, I said that already.

It is also very possible that I got the place undermarket. In fact, the previous owner could have been the one setting the price of the property, and now I suspect that the condo has been purchased by the rental company and they have moved the price to be in line with their other properties.

I don't live in a 3500k flat, I"m somewhere in the middle of your two numbers, and I make a lot more than your typical TEFL teacher, but I still don't like having my rent raised. I've worked hard all year to live within my means, and have still managed to pay off a large amount of debt lingering from my university days. How many English teachers do you know that actually send money home to pay bills off? Now imagine my shock and dismay to see that the rent figure in my carefully managed budget was going to be doubled. Believe me, it would make you feel a bit arsey too.

[rixalex]

I'm a landlord and i always wait until a tenant has moved out before i start showing people round. I always thought it would be an unfair invasion of privacy to do otherwise. If someone's interested in looking at the place before a tenant has moved out, i just tell them they can look at photos but if they want to see it for themselves they'll have to wait.

Judging from what i'm reading in this thread, this is not normal operating procedure for most other landlords. I guess it's like most business transactions in life - as a customer to be you are treated like a VIP, but after the business is done and there's no more money to be made from you, you'll be lucky to receive even the basic courtesies. Sad.

[lingnoi34]

Dan,

instead of sending me nasty PMs and comments, why don't you just come to terms with your impending, inevitable move?

I am sure you will find another landlord who will appreciate you much more than your current one.

Think for a minute, maybe your neighbors aren't so keen on your lifestyle and pleaded with your landlord/rental agent to boot your ass. Maybe your frequently changing "partners" didn't bode well with the families staying in your building? Just food for thought as they say in the States......

Good luck for the future.

Kind regards,

L

[skettios]

I'm a landlord and i always wait until a tenant has moved out before i start showing people round. I always thought it would be an unfair invasion of privacy to do otherwise. If someone's interested in looking at the place before a tenant has moved out, i just tell them they can look at photos but if they want to see it for themselves they'll have to wait.

Judging from what i'm reading in this thread, this is not normal operating procedure for most other landlords. I guess it's like most business transactions in life - as a customer to be you are treated like a VIP, but after the business is done and there's no more money to be made from you, you'll be lucky to receive even the basic courtesies. Sad.

Rivalex,

I agree with you one hundred percent. It's good to know that there are rational people out there doing business. I'm sure your customers appreciate it.

An update,

We have been finding some excellent properties lately. Some are slightly higher than what I'm paying now, but still lower than what my rent had been raised to.

I have also been informed that two of my work colleagues have had their rents raised by several thousand baht. I didn't think that the market had moved up, in fact many of the places we've seen feel cheaper than they were last year when I was looking. It makes me wonder if it's a normal practice in Bangkok to raise the rent for the second year of a lease on anyone, the idea being that people who have settled into their condos would rather pay the extra few thousand baht than move.

If I'm right, that pretty much reveals the disgusting nature of some people in the Bangkok housing market. It also explains some of the responses I've got from people on this thread.

Good luck out there, there are definitely some good deals to be had.

[lazeeboy]

Hey guys,

Can a landlord have people come into the condo I'm renting and show it to them, when I haven't finished my lease yet? I have approximately 60 days until the lease ends, and I don't feel like being cooperative in the slightest.

I want to extend my lease another year, and the landlord said it's okay but he wants to double the rent.

Where I come from this is bullshit, but this is thailand, and I'm just going to find another place. In the meantime though I don't feel like playing host to people that are going to rent from under me.

Any advice?

theres plenty to rent out there,start looking yourself,theres a better deal than your getting for sure

[zorro1]

Never rent more than you can walk away from

[johnnyk]

I'm a landlord and i always wait until a tenant has moved out before i start showing people round. I always thought it would be an unfair invasion of privacy to do otherwise. If someone's interested in looking at the place before a tenant has moved out, i just tell them they can look at photos but if they want to see it for themselves they'll have to wait.

People who rent from you are fortunate, its rare I think.

Edited August 23, 2008 by johnnyk

[ChiangMaiFurnishedApts]

What you could do to be 'awkward' is what some people did when we were looking to buy a property in the UK some years ago.

The people renting the apartment in London that we went to view, did not want to leave the house they were renting. So when we got there, they had left everything in a complete mess. They did not damage anything, they did nothing to effect the lease, but they:-

- left washing hanging up to dry

- dirty plates on the table

- dirty kitchen

- unmade beds

- stuff scattered around

- beer cans left hanging out of bins

and lots lots more...

It looked like a bunch of students were staying there.

It was thoroughly uninviting.

they even left the toilet unflushed and smelly with a 'number 2'.

It was awful.

We became neighbours to some friends of the flat dwellers later on and they told us they did this deliberately to be awkward, as they were in fact very tidy people

During my years renting property in the USA I came across many Tenants who were pissed off with the Landlord and wanted to prevent the apartment being re-rented.

It became a bit of a joke in my office when we came across one of these units.

Further to the above list, here are a few things that you should not consider doing.

Roach / Ant traps scattered everywhere.

You can buy large metal rat traps in every market, they look great in the kitchen. If you splash some ketchup on it to indicate a recent event that is better.

Spend a couple of hundred baht and buy a cheap funeral urn, find some fotos of some sadistic looking Asian man and put them beside it along with some flowers. In fact,make a shrine to him and video peoples reaction when they see it and post it here. Not too many Thais would consider renting an apartment with a PEE in it.

When I met the Tenants of these Horror Apartments they never had an issue with me. I explained to them that I understood why they were doing what they were doing but I had a job to do. I pointed out to them that if the place showed well it would get rented fast and no one would bother them. But if it showed bad then they were in for a lot of visits as no one would rent the place.

Best of luck with whatever you end up doing.

[HHFinder]

Come on people, what is wrong with the owner of a unit putting the rent up at the termination of a lease agreement. Nothing at all!

It should be raised by at least the rate of inflation, and some property investors may even raise the price in accordance with what they percieve the market will take.

Thats the risk you take as a renter. Renting has its positives and negatives, just as does owning.

[yabaaaa]

As a landlord owning numerous condos I do occasionally show condos with the present tenant still there. First i ask them if its ok, if not I dont show them but as all are the same I can show another one b y asking another tenant. My prime objective is to only have a few days when a condo is empty and thats for a thorough cleaning. Its no good advertising when its empty you can end up losing too much time with and empty unit.

If no one is willing its photos only. I prefer to show an empty condo because we can make it look its best but its not always practical to do this.