Pre-screening tenants to Scheduling a showing
what I do is
Set a minimum requirement to apply. Write it down.
As far as calls I simply write in the ad do not call after x time. If a person cannot follow that simple instruction.....Christ you probably can’t expect them to follow the lease rules.
When I screened people I took calls (they can leave a message and I’ll call back after work) but I usually told them it’s available and to email me a request. A initial prescreening questionnaire was emailed.
Most were never sent back and the ones that were I declined in some cases. In others they went to the meet and show.
What I started doing is hiring a agent to ONLY screen and show the property to tenants. I give them my minimum requirement list and instructions to decline anything below that requirement list. They get to deal with all the calls.
Once they have viable applicant/s they gather the info and then it’s sent to me and I look it over and meet and interview. I run the background checks and decline or accept. That usually costs me about $400 for the agent but it’s money well spent imo. It’s also deductible as a expense.
@Rob D. I think paying $400 is a lot but maybe your mortgage is not as high as mine.
I use a different solution that I built for automating everything. If you're interested I can send you the details. I always love feedback : )
Originally posted by @Mark Pitt:
@Rob D. I think paying $400 is a lot but maybe your mortgage is not as high as mine.
I use a different solution that I built for automating everything. If you're interested I can send you the details. I always love feedback : )
You have to look beyond the “it’s $400 it’s a lot of money”. How much is your time worth? From the point you drive to your rental, meet and return home all that time is spent on the screening a tenant. What if they are a no show? You just lost x hours forever. How many phone calls or emails do you have to sift through initially to prescreening to see if the applicant is viable? It took the agent a long t8ne t9 find good tenants. Most were declined on credit or income, sometimes both.
Sure send me your automated process. I like learning new things.
In my experience, including approval requirements in the add, no matter how detailed or prominent, doesn't work. It gets ignored by to many people.
So, I rolled my own solution with a bunch of third party apps (mail parser, on-line appointment scheduler, forms product, texting app, mail chimp, etc. and glued all those apps together with a product called Zapier.
All my lead responses are now automated and pointed to my website, where there is no contact information, only the ability to pre-qualify through a form (income, # of occupants, self reported credit score, and several other questions. If they're pre-qualified, then they can schedule their showing, online, on my site.
It still doesn't work, it just works a whole lot better than any of the other suggestions above, at last for me, and I've tried them all.
You can check out the website here: Rent-Rabbit.com
Interesting - it looks really nicely done. What are you using for inbound email parsing?
I was using MailGun but they changed the plans so I can no longer afford inbound mail.
Here is what we have been doing for the last few years. Since this post we've also added form mule to help automate responses to inquiries based on the submitted information. The link below is a biggerpockets link.
How we screened 300+ tenants with ZERO phone calls! For FREE!
-
Real Estate Agent CT (#0807610) and MA (#9557050)
- Connecticut Property Management
Nice. I already have a similar process in place. Also all free.
I still need to respond to emails and texts when they come in, that's what I'm trying to automate next. For example, if someone fills out the form in Zillow I'd like an automatic email responder to reply with instructions about how request a showing (it would of course go on to say that it's an automated response and that filling out the form is the only way to get a real person)
Now that I think about it, maybe I can get Zapier to handle this for me.... =)
@Dale Lotts. I am doing nothing like you are doing. First, I am not having any sort of open house style showings due to Covid-19. I will take the extra time to separate showings and keep everybody healthy. I merely tell everybody what the qualifications are to rent. I find people do not want to waste their own time if they know they cannot qualify. It cuts down greatly on the tire kickers as well. I have never had anybody spend the $40 per adult for application process if they don't meet my minimum criteria. My units rent for $1,150-1,500 a month.
@Ron Carlson "In my experience, including approval requirements in the add, no matter how detailed or prominent, doesn't work. It gets ignored by to many people."
I'm guessing this is area and class dependent. I own class B's and I do post my criteria in the ad. I didn't used to do that, but I am also trying to cut down on the tire kickers. It has greatly slowed down the "interest" in my rentals. Meaning, those that do contact me almost always qualify (or at least say they do). I have had great success on applicant approval. At $40 per adult, most people don't want to toss away $80 "hoping" I don't notice they've been evicted in the past, or have a 450 credit score.
Yep, I got it working with gmail metadata in the email address and a zapier auto responder. =)
@Anthony Wick this post started pre covid-19 (check the dates) so no need to insult me for having group showings (I would never have an open house). Obviously separation is important these days.
I've had people apply and get rejected even though I'm fully up front about screening criteria and my application fee is $55 - debt-to-income ratio tripped up the last applicant. It rarely happens to me, but It does happen often across the rental market. Even though it never happened to you...that the strange thing about this world, not everything happens to everyone.
I just rented a B/C class house.
90 inquiries.
Had qualifications on ad.
60 didn't qualify due to credit or income even though on ad.
---
I tried open house and got terrible results.
My top quality tenant came from a self tour. Shot me pics of DL and time in and out.
He said those are the best experiences. I took a risk doing it. Next time will try Rently.
Thanks for mentioning rently - it seems cool.
Right now I try hard, and so far have succeeded for several years, to have my properties turn over in 24 hours - current tenant moves out at 11:00 am on the last day of the month, new tenant moves in at 2:00pm on the first day of the month. As a result, I don't see a way to do self-tours. =(
@Joe Cassandra are you still doing self tours? Just heard of this from a property management company yesterday. How is it working out for you?