They keep on asking for additional information before I can see the house

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening,

I have contacted some agents to see some houses. Many of them give me an appointment maybe within the next couple of days but, some hours before the scheduled viewing, they say that the landlord wants to know what I do. They ask for information.
Actually I have my own company, I pay taxes here but it’s difficult to explain the business. I can say what the company does but they want to know more and more.
How do you deal with this? I’m fine to share information with landlord but not in advance and by chat…to the agent that will than report. Have you ever encounter this situation? How do you deal with it?

Edit: typo

A picture of you dressed in a smart suit will actually go a long way towards making a landlord feel more at ease . I guess they worry with pre- conceived perceptions of the nightmare foreigner . If you have any business cards and info , that would help . At the end of the day people can be subjective about choosing a tenant . Good luck. I wear a suit , but am sadly still a nightmare foreigner :wink:

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Real estate agents usually make very little by matching landlords and renters (they make way more selling homes), so they want to check if you are worth their and the landlord’s time. The landlord probably has some preferences and you being a foreigner does not help. So I would advise to think up a nice, clean, not too far from the truth explanation.

In my home country, if you want to rent in a nice neighborhood, you have to get written proof of employment and income before anything else mainly due to strong renter protection laws. Difficult to get rid of them when they don’t pay the rent.

Hi,

I guess it’s not a productive way since the answer than is…no landlord will not open the door. The agent is of course interested in showing the house but the pressure comes from the landlord. I have many conversations like this

Also in my home country. Italian?
The fact is that I know I’m honest and it’s just a bit frustrating :wink:

Can you just show them a printout of your 2018 income?

It may, just possibly, be a situation where for some unspecified reason (such as you are a foreigner) they don’t want to rent to you, but rather than just say no, which would be awkward and possibly even illegal, they are going the route of throwing ever increasing hurdles in your path in the expectation that you will get the message and give up.

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I say tit for tat: tell them you will disclose all info and could they be so kind as to give you the proof of ownership by the landlord, taxes paid on property, original schematics for the house -so you can see where they made ehem modifications…

Two can play the game if they get nasty.

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Why bother? Unless this house is uniquely fitting to the OP, life is too short. Just move on and take unneeded stress out of your life.

Problem is that OP has faced this situation several times… Once you can let go, twice or more, you start to get upset.

Look this will not work. The final aim is to rent the house so I guess if you put yourself into this position they will just say no.
It’s about reaching an aim, not about having pride

It is only to be used in case they are unreasonable. Giving personal info, even a copy of passport or earnings, is OK. But if they start dwelling too far into personal life or limiting his rights, then just remind them of the Tax man… and yes, only if you gave up on that particular house.

Sometimes pride is good for your self esteem and putting racists in their place. Of course one needs to pick their battles.

However in this case it’s very hard to prove intent

Best of luck
Keep us updated.

What I find weird is why has it happened at all and why several times? I mean, unless he says he is a student and they imagine him partying all the time, what does it matter what he does? If he is unemployed and can’t pay, is it that hard to kick him out? But wouldn’t that happen with any person, regardless of nationality?

Honestly, usually they come out right away and tell you straight up: we do not rent to foreigners. Which I still find weird as most foreigners I know pretty up their places.

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I had one woman be really interested in me renting until she spoke to her adult daughter who scared her into thinking a foreigner would trash her house. I had my local friend speak to her as a go between and was told that.

Another place wanted a local guarantor. Told her to take a hike as she sprung it on me at the last minute

The worst of all was this one douchebag who told me to come to meet him at 1pm to sign the contract and when I got there he wasn’t there. Another local friend that accompanied me called him and he said ‘really, you guys are waiting for me?’ like he didn’t expect us to show up. Just wait a few minutes he said. 10 minutes later he showed up with a local Taiwanese uni student to sign for the room, the room I crossed town an hour for to sign for
My local friend tore a strip off the guy for wasting our time

Finally I met a amazing woman for landlord in the.same building. No you’re a foreigner bull. Nice place, great view, new appliances. She even brought me a basket of fruit as a thank you. Threw in free cable TV and internet as well

Tell the real estate guy you’re a pilot.

You might be moving into my building, or one with a similar owner. Some landlords are like that. They prefer to know they won’t be renting to low-lifes, disappearing acts, a band, or trouble makers. These days, probably not tattoo artists. Some prefer to rent only to a family. Some just don’t care and want to fill the space. Some have a reputation in the community and don’t want to hear from a third-cousin about the noisy tenant. I deal with it by giving them what they ask for as long as it doesn’t involve private information. I wouldn’t give my ID before signing a contract, for example. But I’d answer almost any other question. You can always lie.

Some also act as property managers and have ongoing revenue from that, and themselves don’t want to deal with a freak. I’m picky about where I live, so I am willing to go through difficulty to get the apartment I want.

Most people won’t need to go this route, but if your on your own and in a hurry, there are a couple of informal services that will help you find an apartment. I posted looking for a place in some FB groups and was contacted by two. They contact the landlords for you as something like your personal assistant so there’s no initial ‘foreigner shock’ and work the situation out for you. I was told by one that they’d never had a landlord ask for a guarantor. I ended up not needing it, but I might have followed through if I hadn’t found a place.

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