We all know the tenant screening process is full of ups and downs. As a landlord, what would you say is the most painful part of the screening process for you? Either emotionally, financially, or time-consuming-ly?
Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
3y
There should be nothing emotionally painful, it's everyday business. What is really important is that you have a written process (checklist) you follow every time, so you can demonstrate you are in compliance with fair housing laws. The side benefit is that this will also standardize and streamline the process, it takes emotions out of it and it makes the decision making process really binary (pass/fail).
Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
3y
There should be nothing emotionally painful, it's everyday business. What is really important is that you have a written process (checklist) you follow every time, so you can demonstrate you are in compliance with fair housing laws. The side benefit is that this will also standardize and streamline the process, it takes emotions out of it and it makes the decision making process really binary (pass/fail).
Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
3y
Aloha,
Just getting the applicant to submit a complete, legible, application with acceptable hard copy documents...NOT incomplete screen shots of their alleged balances!
Investor · Manteca, CA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
3y
Nothing really...... its always still a little nerve racking with a little voice in your head "did I pick the best one", but that's about it. And that's really only if you have some applicants that are pretty equal and the decision is almost a coin toss.
Put a criteria in place and stick with it...keep emotion out of it as much as possible
Leavenworth, WA · Member since 2019 · 35 posts · 21 votes
3y
There’s SO many people who want and need a decent place to live and most of them you have to say no. That’s hard. We’ve heard so many sob stories while meeting prospective tenants. But agreed with others, be consistent with your screening criteria and treat it as a business.
Rental Property Investor / REALTOR® / Property Manager · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2023 · 384 posts · 421 votes
3y
I have one of my properties listed for rent right now, and I have a lot of people request to view the property, but I only give showings to qualified applicants, I am good about messaging and answering questions, but the decision is based on their application (good credit/no evictions/consistent income) this really helps keep the process more standardized, if someone doesn't qualify then I don't need to meet them or show them the property.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2021 · 384 posts · 197 votes
3y
After switching my applications and screening process online through Innago, I have to say it's been way easier to manage the whole process. It saves me lots of time and money too. Only boring part of the process would be going through each applicant's screening reports, but that doesn't take too long so I cannot complain!