Unexpectedly drop-in to tenants?

carolt

Agree with others - I would HATE it if my landlord came around without phoning first, particularly when I'd just moved in, as presumably the house would still be in a state.

Receiving a bunch of flowers, on the other hand, with a polite note, I would love and be really touched by. There's nothing wrong at all in phoning up and explaining that you'd like to make personal contact and just drop round and say Hi when it was convenient for them - though bearing in mind they may be somewhat snowed under if they've just moved in, and not want to feel they've got to tidy up especially etc... If you did want to meet them and maybe drop your welcome gift in in person, I'd say clearly and specifically 'I don't want to come in at all, I just wanted to meet you personally, so that we have a chance to say hello before I go abroad soon', or something similar, so they know you're not planning on dropping round every 5 minutes, as, take it from me, you won't be a very popular landlord if that's what they expect.

If you just want to engender warm, appreciative feelings in your tenants, just send the flowers round with a note including your name and phone number and address/email and a brief message saying 'Welcome, and do contact me if there's anything you're worried about.' If they have any shred of manners, they should then contact you in some form to say thank you.

Lucky tenants - you sound like a landlord who actually values those living in your property - hope it all works well for you....

wherediditallgo

I tend to agree with other posters – you sound like a caring landlord & the flowers etc are a really nice gesture, but I still wouldn't like my landlord turning up unannounced. An ex-landlord did that to me two weeks after I'd moved in – the place badly needed decorating & general tidying-up, & the agreement was that I got a greatly reduced rent for doing it myself. On the day that I'd taken time off work to start painting, the landlord came round & found me wearing my boyfriend's tatty old shorts, rotten trainers & a headscarf worthy of Hilda Ogden. As if that wasn't bad enough, my ample chest was bra-less, gently swaying with every shift in gravity. :eek: Although the landlord apologised for the intrusion, I felt deeply embarrassed & rather annoyed that they'd turned up like that. We got on fine in the end, but things were a little awkward at the beginning as I had to make it clear such surprise visits weren't on.

As you have an agent, any visits however well-intentioned should be prearranged through them. I think getting the flowers delivered with a note containing your contact details & other info is the best way to go about it. For every person who doesn't mind a landlord turning up unannounced, there'll be loads who'll feel various levels of unhappiness with it, from a bit of irritation right through to feeling their privacy had been invaded, the tenancy agreement had been breached etc. You sound like a great landlord though, so I hope the rental & your time overseas both go well.

dunnomate

Yeah - you sound like a diamond. But always give your tenants some notice before bursting in !!

cheers

simhar

seven-day-weekend

I personally would think it was a lovely thing to do and would really appreciate it.

However, some people seem to be very anal about people knocking on their door so I suppose it might be better to phone first.

All these threads about Crappy landlords and then you get one trying to be nice and people don't want that either.

Sorry, that's how it seems to me.

Catblue

How would you feel if the tenants turned up at YOUR front door unannounced and said that they just wanted to say hi/put a name to a face?

If you wouldn't like it, then don't do it to them.

seven-day-weekend

Catblue wrote: »

How would you feel if the tenants turned up at YOUR front door unannounced and said that they just wanted to say hi/put a name to a face?

If you wouldn't like it, then don't do it to them.

I wouldn't mind at all, I would think it was friendly.

Debt_Free_Chick

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I wouldn't mind at all, I would think it was friendly.

To be fair, though, we're all different and what suits one of us shouldn't be taken as a yardstick for measurement of the reaction of others.

I don't like it. My time is completely whacked out - I have a job, which I do from home. I'm also the Parish Clerk. I edit the Parish Magazine. I open and lock the Church. I have three dogs. I also have to cook, clean, wash & iron ..... and I am really very introvert and not at all at home with social chit-chat. I don't dislike people who call by ... but I'd rather they picked up the phone, or at least check that it's convenient.

The stress (for me) of having to answer the door to someone who is simply being very kind & friendly will undoubtedly have me blurt out some inadequate form of thanks; burst into tears; or make a complete hash of the whole thing and say something which I mean as a compliment, sound like the insult of the Century :rotfl:

One of the reasons I post here .... none of you know who I am and I don't have to "face" you

seven-day-weekend

I understand, Debt-Free-Chick. Although I wouldn't find the aforementioned scenario stressful, there are other situations which I would.

Stressful I can understand, it was the people who were coming over as unfriendly and talking of breaching contract who I was having problems with, after all the talk we have had on here about bad landlords.

Anyway, my answer to the OP is to ring first as some people do not want, for whatever reason, for you just to turn up.

wherediditallgo

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Stressful I can understand, it was the people who were coming over as unfriendly and talking of breaching contract who I was having problems with, after all the talk we have had on here about bad landlords.

The people talking about breaching contract may seem extreme to you, but if part of the tenancy agreement is that the landlord give them notice before going round, then they have a right to expect that to be adhered to regardless of the well-meaning behind the visit, just as the landlord will no doubt expect the tenant to adhere to the agreement when the tenant wants to report problems, etc. I like my privacy - I don't spend time in & out of my neighbours' homes & I don't want them in & out of mine. It's great for you that you say you wouldn't mind a surprise visit, & on a day when you're chilled having had a nice glass of wine you'll probably take it very differently from if you've just had a row with your OH & have spent the last 15 minutes crying your eyes out, or have just put a face-pack on your face or hair-remover on your armpits thinking you'd have time to deal with it, or hadn't slept properly the night before & had just got changed for bed. While I wouldn't mind some friends/family seeing me in my dressing-gown at the front door, I would definitely mind my landlord seeing me that way.

We're all different, & what we'll put up with from friends/family is very different from what we'll tolerate from a landlord. Bad tenants aren't any more likely to post here than bad landlords, & we all know there are plenty of both around.

Lavendyr

I have genuinely mixed feelings as a tenant - I would like to feel as though I was on good terms with landlord, but I would be a bit nervous if they popped around without notice. It is a very nice gesture though and I think if you just ring them and ask if it'd be OK to drop round and give them a welcome present, that would be the best thing to do. You sound like a lovely landlord.