The Drive By
You can tell a lot driving by the outside of a property. You stop, look around, get a sense of the street, the building quality, the curb appeal. Most renters decide before they walk into their prospective apartment whether they feel comfortable or not, so why shouldn’t you have the same reaction?
There are several things I do before my clients drive by a property:
– make sure the property is still available
– see if the agent will meet us there instead (usually not the case without an accepted offer)
– Google map it and check out the satellite images
– check Zimas to make sure the assessor agrees with the listing agent about the number of units, square feet, bedrooms, etc.
If all these things check out, a drive by can tell you a lot. You just have to get off your lazy/busy butt and drive…