Rental Property Investor · Tulsa, OK · Member since 2017 · 15 posts · 5 votes
I have just purchased my second investment property and fortunately had a slew of applicants. I had no issue sending correspondence to those who did not put applications in however I am having writers block when considering those who gave me money for the screening process and genuinely hoped to get good news.
I know this business takes thick skin, I don't have a problem delivering bad news. This is relatively easy in terms of emotion, my issue is "what" to say. I am really trying to consider everything that I do as a foundation for the future. I want to conduct my business as close as possible to what it will be in 5 or 10 years so I put a lot of consideration in details like this one.
Here is what I have told those who were interested but did not have the chance or chose not to put in an application yet:
"Hello there, we just found a renter for our home. Thank you for your interest and I apologize for any inconvenience!"
“Thanks xxx for your interest and application. Unfortunately, we have decided to go with another applicant. Good luck with your search!”
If their criteria is significantly worse, I’ll add ‘a more qualified candidate’, but I’ve decided to keep it typically generic.
I also have stopped having all applicants pay for the background/credit check. I have them apply and skip that section in Cozy, and tell them if it fits for both of us, we’ll ask for that. It adds an extra day into the process, but I now don’t feel bad rejecting good applicants since they didn’t pay for it. I use the checks as a verification of everything they said - I’ve already decided on them (as long as the checks come back clean)
I do realize that I’m renting to B/A class tenants, so your mileage may vary if you’re in the B-/C range.
I am definitely headed in that direction for my future applicants.
I assume you (or someone that works for you) are showing the home to those that have shown interest. Are you having them fill out the application at showing and based upon your findings, contact who you would like to conduct a background/credit check on?
Also, are you showing the home per appointment or open house?
I will do both: open house and per appointment. I actually do an open house while the tenants are still living there, especially if they've staged the house great. Pay the tenants $50-100 for a dinner and ask for 3hrs to show. My goal is minimizing vacancy and there's no better way to minimize vacancy than showing early.
I have found better luck with open houses, especially when multiple couples are there! It creates 'realism competition'. If they like the place, they know to be quick about applying and deciding!
I do bring applications to the open houses. Just like rent collection: make it easy! They can fill it out there and hand it to me. Open houses are a great time-saver too, plan ahead though and make all email replies indicating the date.
Be upfront about income, credit, minimums and criteria in listing or when speaking about property. I pre-qualify people before even showing. If they know the guidelines and apply anyways they should not be surprised. Stick to your guns on policy
I don't think it's the "Sorry we found another tenant" that bothers you. I think what makes you feel bad is that you took money from applicants. Not only are you a landlord but you are human and have a conscience. Can you return the money with the rejection notice? In the future try another route since this way bothers you. If giving back a few hundred bucks makes you sleep better then do it.
@Skyler Walker SmartMove is through TransUnion. Once I review people's applications and feel like I want to continue with them, I'll go on the SmartMove website and send an invitation to the applicant's email address. Then they click, pay, answer some questions, and the credit and background check information is sent to me. It costs them $40. You can also do it through Cozy.co. They are also pretty popular.
Are you using a paper application or do you have them apply through SmartMove? I agree that reviewing the application before asking them to pay for the credit and background check is the best way to do it.
@Skyler Walker SmartMove is through TransUnion. Once I review people's applications and feel like I want to continue with them, I'll go on the SmartMove website and send an invitation to the applicant's email address. Then they click, pay, answer some questions, and the credit and background check information is sent to me. It costs them $40. You can also do it through Cozy.co. They are also pretty popular.
Are you using a paper application or do you have them apply through SmartMove? I agree that reviewing the application before asking them to pay for the credit and background check is the best way to do it.
I use a paper application and then after I've reviewed their information and verified it all I go into SmartMove an have them send the email to the applicant so that they can go to the website and pay for the credit/background check to be sent to me.
I have an application on my website that they can either print or fill out online and email to me. After I've reviewed their information and verified it all I go into SmartMove an have them send the email to the applicant so that they can go to the website and pay for the credit/background check to be sent to me. They can't apply through SmartMove, it's just for the credit/background check. They are run by TransUnion. With Cozy.co you can do the whole process on their website I believe. I just prefer to do it this way.
I have an application on my website that they can either print or fill out online and email to me. After I've reviewed their information and verified it all I go into SmartMove an have them send the email to the applicant so that they can go to the website and pay for the credit/background check to be sent to me. They can't apply through SmartMove, it's just for the credit/background check. They are run by TransUnion. With Cozy.co you can do the whole process on their website I believe. I just prefer to do it this way.
Thank you! I will definitely be using Smart Move, it sounds like they have the best credit and background checks. I’ll look into setting up my own application for them to fill out.
I am currently doing paper applications but I am considering moving to online. The property management software I use offers some resources. I just haven’t figured out how to use the applications that I want to use in conjunction with their process.