I would expect that people would at least value their own time

I had someone email me about apartments. When I emailed her back, I let her know that I only had 1 apartment available for the 1st of the following month and so she should make an appointment and come in soon. When she came in unannouced much later, she was sad to hear that that apartment was rented because her date was final.

I did, however, have two apartments of the same floor plan available for the middle of the month and they were still second floor apartments. She said she really needed the 1st but wanted to look anyway. So, after 45 minutes of questioning about things she could find out herself (what school would my kids go to, does the bus pick them up? where is the bus stop? what ages is the school for?) we went to go look at apartments.

I don't have many apartments to rent right now and so (since the current residents haven't moved out of the soon-to-be-available apartments) we went to look at an example apartment that a resident was going to move into.

We also went and visited where the available apartments were. As much as I explained the floor plans are the same and how we wouldn't have her sign a lease until she saw her actual apartment and how I got my apartment the same away, she couldn't believe I would ask her to pick an apartment without seeing it. But that's how it works when I'm full and don't have apartments just sitting around.

So she asked that, when she applied, that I hold both apartments for her and then when they move out 25 days later, she could look at both of them, and pick which one she liked the best.

"When we run your application it has to be on a specific apartment; we can't hold both," I said.

"How am I supposed to pick if I haven't seen it?"

"Imagine if you came in and I said 'I have an apartment available for you, but I can't tell you which one because someone else is picking which one she likes best weeks from now. You can rent the one that she likes the lease' "

"Ok, I guess you're right," she said, and she left basically all set to apply and so I figured the whole thing was worth my time.

After all that work, she emailed me the next day to say that she wouldn't be renting here: she needed an apartment by the 1st.