Why you should not hand out keys to prospective tenants

Suppose you have now decided on your property manager, but in the final discussions you find out that the agency hands out keys to prospective tenants.  This would mean for a $50/$100 deposit and a copy of someone’s driver’s licence, that person is entitled to take a set of keys and inspect the property on their own. 

This process has been around for many, many years.  It was around when I first started my career some 18 years ago, and it’s still around now.  Agencies elect to hand out keys for their own reasons, and I am assuming one would be to free up the property manager to do other things. Furthermore, as agencies have always run this procedure – why would they change?

However, isn’t it part of the role of the leasing specialist or property manager to meet prospective tenants and show them through properties? A leasing specialist is a great advantage to a property manager, as he or she is able to meet and greet prospective tenants on behalf of both the property manager and real estate agency, which is truly a fantastic time saver. Plus it’s all a leasing specialist does, so this alone assists with the reduction of an owner’s vacancy period, which can sometimes be rather stressful for an owner. 

Remember anyone can make themselves look fantastic on a tenancy application form – but isn’t it important to meet people? In my opinion, processing tenancy applications is no different to the interview process that businesses operate.  You want to ensure you do everything possible to secure the right person. 

I can certainly appreciate we all lead busy lives, and many people would appreciate the opportunity to meet someone at the property, whether it’s at a private inspection or a general open for inspection. 

Wouldn’t it be much easier to meet the prospective tenant, rather than have them drive to the agent’s office, collect the keys, drive to the property and then drive back to the agent’s office to return the keys and receive  their money back? A 15-minute inspection could turn into an hour round trip – now who has time for that? 

My advice for owners is to consider the “what ifs” about handing out keys?

• What happens if the keys are not returned?
• Who pays for a change of locks on the entire house? Will insurance cover you?
• What happens if the new tenant is broken into after they move in due to the intruder using a set of keys?
• Does your landlord insurance cover you to hand out keys?
• What happens if Nigerian scammers sell your house and whisk the money away to a Chinese bank account? 

While handing out keys has always been around, perhaps it’s time to see that procedure disappear.

Leah Calnan is the director of Metro Property Management in Victoria and is the chairwoman of the REIV Property Management Chapter.