Wild Weekend

 We had our first open house for the garage apartment this weekend and after some discussion and soul-searching decided to go ahead and charge an application fee.  This forum post covers much of the discussion and the thought process around switching to charging from not charging.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/92630-application-fees

I took the single-story apt and stuck my sweetie with the upstairs one.  I have a bum knee plus he's better at plumbing and fixed a tricky faucet for me while he was there.  Win-win!

At the single-story, we had about 6 candidates and received one application, charging a $20.00 fee.  I had one application from the day prior as well.  For the upper garage apartment, there were only two candidates and one completed an application.  It is $495.00 mo, bills paid so it's a pretty good deal and the candidate seems excited.

Got home and looked them all up on the court network.  For being a relatively backwards state, we have wonderful public records access.  One candidate had an eviction, one had a recent conviction for heroin, and one looked pretty good.  That one has been forwarded to the tenant screening agency.

Two weeks into the multi-unit adventure, it still seems like a good idea.  I even successfully collected the past-due rent from an inherited dead-beat tenant.