Email Karma

 So, do you ever get emails from strangers, and something about the whole interaction pisses you off?  Well, I do.  I was taught by my dad to fly off the handle at the first mention of any bad news.  I realize that I tend to do this, so, I try to take a step back and assess the situation.  Sometimes, I know I'm being irrational and I take no action before I calm down.  Sometimes, I am just mad and I want to rage, but I try to stop myself.  


So, a little after we had made our decision to move to Florida, I started searching the internets for real estate sites.  I found the site, Trulia, where one can ask questions and people (mainly realtors) can answer.  So, I asked about short term rentals and also about houses for sale as well.  I spelled out my general needs, price range, etc.  I got many responses from realtors wanting to help me.  I emailed them and asked for help finding a short term rental.  One woman answered right away.  She sent me some leads within a couple days.  Most though, said they would look and get back to me.  They never got back to me.  


One realtor in particular struck me with his answer to my question:

Hello, 

I'll be more than happy to assist you in locating the best rental property available for your money. However, the only way I can do this is by first discovering your individual needs. 

1) Do you have children? If so, the quality of the school district you move into may be of some importance. 

2) What criteria shall I include (and/or exclude) when conducting the search of the MLS for your rental? 

3) What is your price range? If I can't find another 2 bedroom, will a 3 bedroom do? Likewise, if there are no condos available, will you consider a single family home? Do you have a pet? 

4) ...and on and on and on. 

The choice is yours. You can work with a random agent who throws properties at you hoping one will stick...or you can work with a qualified Realtor with 8 years experience providing excellent Real Estate services designed specifically for your particular needs. 

I look forward to your call. My direct number is xxx-xxx-xxxx

So, the answer seemed so detailed for a short term rental.  The other thing that got me was his profile picture.  He was holding a little dog, like a rat terrier or something.  So, I figured, someone with a pet would be more understanding and helpful.  I looked at his profile, and this was on it:

Interests:

---------- is interested in seeing an end to animal cruelty, especially on the farm.

So, I'm a sucker for animals.  I wanted this guy to be my realtor.  So I emailed him.  He sent a short reply back, something like, "Sorry, I don't have any rentals at that price range."  It was just like he held the stinky diaper away from his nose as he disposed of it.  Can't be bothered.  So, I emailed him back and asked why he bothered to respond to my question if he couldn't help me.  He replied again, with something like, "what I mean is, I don't have any rentals for that low."  So, obviously, when he answered my question on Trulia, he hadn't actually read it.  He obviously just cut and pasted some generic response to reel suckers in like me!

Fast forward to last week.  At this point, I am really anxious to have a rental lined up before we get there.  I responded to any listing on craigslist that seemed kinda in the ballpark of what we needed.  So, honestly, I got a couple responses, some were not what we needed, so I didn't reply back.  A few days later, I got a very nasty email, regarding a previous one.  So, started the back and forth:

        

Hi, (10/17 - me)

Do you do month to month terms?  And do you allow cats?  I'm looking for a place starting Nov. 18.  

Hi  (10/18 - apt guy)

I will have one apartment available for one month from Nov 18Th, a cat will be OK

If you want a reservation or more information call me tomorrow

          Thanks

         Hi  (10/20 - apt guy)

Wat was the point of asking a Question if you don,t respond back?

         (10/23 - me)

         I apologize for not responding.  You wrote:

"If you want a reservation or more information call me tomorrow"

          I don't want a reservation, so I guess that's why I didn't respond.   I am so used to trying to              contact apartment managers and do not get a response, so I guess I'm doing the same thing, which I shouldn't.    Thanks for the information.  I would be apprehensive to rent from you now because of your belligerent response, we did not even meet yet and it's already started on bad terms.

         Excuses , Excuses, Excuses   (10/23 - apt guy)

            

Serious people call me , i give them the information and then they make the reservation if they want

90% send Emails without responding back like you, So what is the point of sending the Email if you don,t respond, I receive 50-60 Emails per day and 90% of them are like you don,t respond back

OK my Dear Mad Christine, I am sick of you people not responding back 

Thanks and Good Luck Finding your Dream place  

             (10/23 - me)

             Thanks!  I'm excited to find my dream place!  Sorry to waste your time.

So, to put things in perspective, the place looked great from the pictures and the website.  But, he didn't have what I needed, his grammar and spelling were not the best, and I was just following his instructions, as he said nothing about if I did not want to make a reservation!  I should have known from the craigslist ad though, that the guy was a cranky guy.  At the bottom of the listing, it read,

"EMAILS WITHOUT NAMES AND TEL NUMBERS WILL BE DELETED"

So, my bad for even bothering with this one!  I wonder if I had made a sob story about someone being in the hospital or something if he still would have been pissed....probably, his time is very valuable.  But, I think it's more of a case of email karma.