It happens a few times a year to every agent in Columbus. You have a listing appointment, you run the numbers, and the honest answer is that this client should not sell right now. They owe too much. The market is not where they need it. They are PCSing out of Fort Benning in six weeks and the house will not close in time.
So what do you do with them?
What should I do when my Columbus client needs to rent instead of sell?
Refer them to a property manager who does not sell houses. The risk in handing your client to a full-service brokerage is that the brokerage is also a listing competitor, and in two years that owner calls them instead of you. A management-only firm has no listing side to lose them to.
Why this comes up so often here
Columbus is a military town. Fort Benning turns over constantly, and orders do not wait for a closing date. An owner who bought three years ago and has to be in another state next month is not a seller — they are an accidental landlord who has not worked that out yet.
The other version is the equity problem. Somebody bought near the top of their budget, has not held long enough to cover the cost of selling, and would have to write a check at closing. Renting for two or three years fixes that. Selling now does not.
Either way, you have done real work for that client and there is no commission at the end of it. That is the actual problem worth solving.
The part agents are right to worry about
Losing the client. It is a legitimate fear and it is why a lot of agents keep quiet and let the listing die instead of referring it out.
We only do property management. We have no sales side, no listing agents, and nothing to gain from your client selling with anybody but you. Our agent referral program exists because the alternative — agents holding onto rental clients they cannot serve — is bad for everyone including the owner. Our pledge on that page is plain: we will never take your client away from you.
When they are ready to sell, the house comes back to you, and it comes back having been maintained, inspected at move-in and move-out, and documented every month.
What your client actually gets
| What they worry about | What happens |
|---|---|
| Who fixes things when I am gone? | Maintenance goes through us. Somebody answers at 9pm. |
| How do I know who is living in my house? | Background and credit checks, income and rental verification, every applicant |
| What if they stop paying? | We coordinate the eviction, filed under the law of the state the house is actually in |
| What does it cost? | Ten percent of rent collected, and nothing in a month the house is vacant |
The market they are handing you back
Worth knowing what the rental side of Columbus actually looks like before you advise somebody. Our current vacancy board runs from a $700 one-bedroom in Midtown to a $2,500 four-bedroom in Midland, spread across Muscogee and Harris counties in Georgia and Russell and Lee counties in Alabama. A house that will not sell at the price your client wants very often rents comfortably.
And the cross-river piece matters more here than almost anywhere. If your client owns in Phenix City rather than Columbus, that is Alabama law, not Georgia law, and the lease has to be written accordingly.
How to hand one off
Send us the address and the client's name through the referral form, or just call. We will give the owner a straight answer on what the house should rent for — including, sometimes, that they are better off selling after all, in which case they are back with you the same week.
More reading: what full-service management covers, Columbus property management, and the rest of our Columbus property management guides.
Written by Carlos Alex Rozwadowski, Premier Realtors of Columbus Property Management. Former U.S. Army Ranger, 75th Ranger Regiment. Managing Columbus rentals since 2007.
Related, if your client is leaving Fort Benning: PCSing from Fort Benning and you own a house in Phenix City?
