Back to: Finding Your Place: Overcoming Barriers in Rental Housing

It’s important to strike a balance between being persistent and being too pushy or aggressive. You want to show the landlord that you’re interested and motivated, but you also want to respect their time and decision-making process.

Give them time to review your application and follow up politely, maybe one time per week. DO follow up on a regular basis.  The frequency of follow-up messages or calls can depend on the landlord’s communication style and the timeline of the rental application process. Here are some general guidelines:

• After submitting your rental application, remember to send a brief message or call letting them know you have completed it and to contact you if they have any questions or need additional information. This step is important and shows that you have completed the first step in the screening process. The landlord will have many perspective tenants who do not follow through, or communicate in a sporadic and unprofessional manner, the application process is designed to screen these applicants out so it is easy to set yourself apart just by being consistent, polite and professional in your communication.
• If you haven’t heard back within a week or so, it’s appropriate to follow up again to ask for an update on the status of your application.
• If the landlord has given you a specific timeline for when they will make a decision or get back to you, it’s appropriate to follow up after that timeline has passed if you haven’t heard back.
• It’s generally not recommended to follow up more than once a week or to be too persistent, as this can come across as pushy or annoying to the landlord.

Here are examples of appropriate follow up messages or calls.

• A polite email or text message checking in with the landlord after a few days: “Hello [landlord’s name], this is [your name], I just wanted to check in and see if you had any updates on my rental application. Please let me know if you need any further information from me. Thank you.”
• A phone call after a week or so: “Hi, this is [your name] and I recently submitted a rental application for [address of rental property]. I just wanted to check in and see if there were any updates on the status of my application.”
• Sending a thank-you note or email after an initial viewing or meeting with the landlord: “Dear [landlord’s name], Thank you for taking the time to show me the rental property at [address of rental property]. I really appreciated the opportunity to see the unit and I hope to hear from you soon regarding my application. Best regards, [your name].”
• An email or text message that is short and to-the-point: “Hi, just wanted to follow up on my rental application for [address of rental property]. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can provide or if you need any further information. Thank you.”

Remember that you should treat your application process like a job interview, remember the following tips.

• Avoid making any negative comments about the property or location, as this can make the landlord think that you may not be happy living there.
• Don’t demand that the landlord make any repairs or changes to the property before you move in. Instead, politely ask if they would be willing to make any necessary repairs or improvements should any come up once you have moved in.
• Don’t try to negotiate the rent or lease terms before you have been approved as a tenant. This can come across as presumptuous and may make the landlord less likely to rent to you.
• Avoid asking for special favors or exceptions to the rental requirements, as this may make the landlord feel like you are trying to take advantage of them.
• Don’t forget to proofread your communication with the landlord and ensure that it is free of spelling or grammatical errors. This will show that you are attentive to detail and take the rental application process seriously.