Kate and I inquired about an apartment in Brooklyn last week and got what started as a very nice response. Then they wrote the following. We decided not to pursue the apartment for other reasons, but I found the email condescending and annoying enough that I didn't think I would want to rent from or live in the same building as the landlords. Kate disagreed, thinking that they would be quirky and interesting people, and finding the email hilarious.
You be the judge:
Also, since you are possibly coming in from out of town, let me share some insights we have gained over the years with out of town tenants who were not a good fit for our apartment. It may sound nutty, but would hate to have you waste your time. We mention this when people are veiwing the apartment:
- New York is a city of 8 million people, and you will hear them at all hours of the day. People work and play hard, and the work days start early so you will hear people in the street and in surrounding buildings as early as 5am to get up for work. Stray cats occupy the connected back yards and have their own rituals, and we as landlords are not responsible for nor would ever consider refereeing their behavior or exterminating them because they make noise.
- The cost of living is high here, so rents and living expenses approximate a price range that some people experience only when they vacation at exclusive resorts. That somehow permeates their mindset and skew expectations for a rental apartment. This is not an exclusive resort, and we as landlords are not the concierge.
- Old houses have character, but show their age. Architects, OCD sufferers, and any general anal retentive types have been apoplectic about creaking floors, the lack of precise 90 degree angles for the ceilings and floors, and the lack of glass and chrome in a Victorian era house.
- Renting is not the same as owning your own house or condo. You can't tear down walls or do your own renovations, or demand we swap out existing appliances and buy higher end ones of your choice. We have found previous house owners have a hard time adjusting to a rental arrangement and not being the lords of the manor.
7 comments:
My take: It's emminently sensible, proactive and wise. I could see why you would consider it annoying, but I think I would like renting from them, knowing that their heads were on straight.
Hmm. It sounds like they've had some serious problem tenants in the past and have developed a chip on the shoulder as a result. That tone is a little too snotty for me, though the points they're making are just common sense (or so one would think -- can they really have had tenants who expected them to keep stray cats from making noise??) Maybe they don't realize that the condescending tone tends to drive off exactly the kind of tenant they are trying to attract.
I have no idea what to think. I really, really hate the tone. If you're going to tell grown adults things that most children ought to know, you really need to make an effort to speak unassumingly. I don't know what kinds of tenants they've had before, but it really does sound like they think everyone not from New York City is a backward hillbilly.
I agree with Luke. I would be turned off from the apartment. I hate being lectured before I've actually done anything wrong, especially in such a condescending tone. They must have had some really awful tenants to feel the need to do that. I also hate New Yorkers who think that out of towners have no idea what it's like to live in a "real" city.
Aw, yer all a buncha sensitives.
We prefer to be called "sensies."
One of the funniest things is that she feels the need to warn you that NYC has 8 million people in it. Did she think you thought you were moving to Smyrna?
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