When (and How Often) Should You Follow Up on an Apartment Inquiry?

You found the perfect apartment and sent a message to take the next step, whether that’s asking a question, scheduling a tour, confirming availability, or requesting an application. While most landlords reply promptly, sometimes you don’t hear back. What do you do if that happens to you? You send a follow-up message.

While sending a follow-up may seem simple, it’s a little more complicated than you’d expect. You don’t want to send it too soon and seem pushy, but sending it too late could mean missing out on your chance. Before you start composing your next message, find out when and how often you should follow up, as well as tips about online messaging for renters.

Key Takeaways

• Follow up within two to three days if you haven’t heard back. Most landlords respond within 24–48 hours, so if there’s silence after a few days, a polite follow-up message shows interest and helps you stand out.
• Lack of response may signal bigger issues. If you still don’t hear back after a second follow-up, it could indicate communication problems that may persist throughout the lease; consider it a red flag.
• Apartments.com makes follow-ups simple. Messaging through Apartments.com keeps all conversations in one place, helping renters easily stay organized and re-engage with landlords directly from the listing.

Why You Should Follow Up

Silence isn’t always bad news, which is why you should send a follow-up message. It can be discouraging when you don’t get a response, but sometimes there’s a valid reason. Landlords juggle dozens of messages, and yours might have slipped through the cracks. You don’t want to miss out on the apartment of your dreams just because of a simple miscommunication.

Reaching back out after an inquiry benefits you in other ways as well. It shows you are serious about the apartment and truly interested, which sets you apart from other renters. This opens the door to a conversation between you and the landlord, creating a favorable impression and keeping you at the forefront of their mind; all things that can help you be the renter they choose.

When You Should Follow Up

The typical response times for landlords is usually within 24–48 hours. So, if you haven’t heard back in two to three days, then it’s reasonable to send a follow up.

Depending on whether it’s a private landlord or a property management company can also affect when you should follow up. For a private landlord, it might not be their full-time job. They might only check their messages every couple of days, so you might need to be a bit more patient.

How often should you follow up

After you’ve sent your first follow-up, give the landlord another two to three days to respond. If that time frame passes, then you should move on. The listing may no longer be available, and you don’t want to waste your time on a place you can’t rent.

Continued unresponsiveness is a red flag for issues that are likely to continue throughout the leasing process and even your tenancy. So, it’s in your best interest to take that as a sign to move on.

If you’re working on a strict timeline, then you might not have time to wait for a response. Try calling or visiting the leasing office in person to get a more immediate answer.

How to Follow Up

You can follow up via email, phone call, or text; whichever is the preferred method of contact for the landlord. If you want an easy way to keep track of your conversation attempts, the best way to communicate with landlords is on Apartments.com’s messaging platform.

Message landlords on Apartments.com

Skip the emails and phone calls with Apartments.com. You can directly message landlords right from the listing. All your conversations stay in one place, with filters to organize your interactions and an archive to keep only what matters front and center.

Following up is easy with Apartments.com; you just navigate to the conversation you started and send another message. Make sure you are logged into your Apartments.com account first. You can start a chat without an account, but you’ll need one to send follow-ups after the landlord replies.

Renter Etiquette Tips

When you’re messaging a landlord, how you communicate says a lot about you as a person and as a renter. Follow these renter etiquette tips to make a positive impression and increase your chances of being approved.

Maintain a respectful tone

Keep your tone light and courteous since you want to show you’re responsible and genuinely interested, but not pushy. A respectful, professional message makes a great impression and shows you’d be a reliable renter.

Keep it brief

You are just checking back in to see if they got your message, so don’t write an entire novel. Just keep it friendly and light, like this:

“Hi [name], I wanted to follow up and see if you received my message about [address]. I am still very interested and would love to [reiterate your previous question or request]. Thank you for your time!”

Proofread

Just as maintaining a respectful tone shows you would be a good, responsible renter, so does sending a message that is free from mistakes. Misspellings and grammar errors can make it seem like you don’t care or you’re not serious about the property.

What to Do After You Get Your Answers

Now that you’ve gotten an answer to your inquiry, it’s time to choose if you want to apply or not. Just as you sent the landlord a message on Apartments.com, you can apply online. The landlord can send an invitation to apply right through the messaging platform.