When I first started renting after I moved away from home, my first experience was apparently a diamond in the rough as well. The apartment was clean, well maintained, secure. The management was very friendly and helpful. Utilities were included in the already cost effective rental price. Most importantly though, never once was I pressured into renewing my lease, or ever had the landlords doing showings of my rental unit while I was still living there. In fact, they pretty much said I only had to give one month's notice of moving out, and that I could renew on a month to month basis as well. NICE.

Then I moved.... The next 3 places I lived, I had my landlords chewing up my ass months and months before my lease would be up to renew, and if not, that they were going to start showing it and signing other leases. I've always had friends tell me that this was how their landlords worked as well, but based on my good experiences from my first place, plus just how ludicrous (and rude) this seems in reality, here it turns out that this is actually the way it works...

But why! I can totally understand that a landlord really wants to assure that they will have renters, but at the same time, must you really do it 6 months in advance? 3 months would seem like a more reasonable number... Hell, I don't see the problem with giving only 2, or 1 month's notice. Plus, the landlords always tell me.. "We have people calling constantly about this property..." If that's the case, and you do have this huge interest in the property, I REALLY doubt you will have trouble filling it in a short notice.

I've just been really irritated about this recently because my rental company (who has actually been a pleasure to work thus far), is now constantly giving me "Are you going to renew" calls and emails on more than a weekly basis. I keep getting told they are getting so many people calling about the house, and that they really need to know. Well guess what?! Our lease is not up till August!! More than 6 full months! REALLY?!

I keep explaining that I need more time to make the decision, and I do NOT want people being shown our unit. (more on that later). There is absolutely no reason you need to show our apartment 6 months in advance. 6 months is a LONG time, and really anything can happen in that time. Very few people can make that decision soundly that far in advance... Yet, this is what the majority of realtors do...

Maybe this has only been a hard thing for me to swallow based on how my life situation always sits at the moment. I've worked on contracts my whole career so far, so what lies beyond the end of my contract is always unclear. Sometimes they keep me, sometimes they just can't. I'm unemployed now, currently freelancing while I search for work. So many things can happen in 6 months, but I certainly won't know now. I can get a job out of state in 4 months, and have to move. I may not get a job yet and have to stay in town. There's no safe way for me to ever make this decision. I certainly can't commit to another year knowing I may be relocating for work, and If I don't commit, I lose the great unit I'm renting and have to relocate in town... It sucks.

Now back to what I said about showing my apartment... I HATE IT. I liked my first apartment that only showed it after the tenant moved out... I understand that this isn't feasible for all landlords, but I want to restrict it to the fewest amount of showings while I am there as possible. Why do I hate showings so much? A lot of reasons really. For one, I really don't trust people. Even if I trust my landlord/rental company, I certainly don't trust the visitors they bring. It would be very easy to swipe something. The BIG thing though is this. I don't want people coming in and seeing exactly what I own, what our house setup is, and what not. Call me as paranoid as you want. I know there would be some people that can come in, see I have a really great computer or something, and then notice that window that is in the same room as well. Just saying. If you don't think this happens, think again. Most robberies occur because the offender was able to get acquainted with the property.

But all that aside... my living place is my HOME. My personal space. When your landlord is scheduling showings every week, it pretty much defiles your sacred space. Thankfully some landlords actually respect the law and will give the proper notice, but I have had ones that had not and my landlord shows up at 9AM on my day off and I'm in my underwear playing video games while my girlfriend is lying shirtless in bed sleeping. (possibly TMI... HAHA). Plus, you got to clean, contain your pets somewhere, and pretty much prepare just like you were having a dinner party every week. Or not and have your landlord yell at you for not preparing it or being dirty. To me, it's just rude, annoying, and something I don't feel like I should have to put up with... yet you do.

So that is the rant of the day. I just don't get why realtors and landlords must pressure their tenants SO FAR in advance. All my experience with this always start at the 6 month period, which to me is a ridiculously long amount of time. Same for my friend's experiences. I can see 3 months being the maximum. 2 months would be ideal, and I really believe most realtors can make due just fine with only having one month's notice to find a new tenant.

So anyone else really sick of dealing with this? What are your thoughts?