Elk Grove, Sacramento County · Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 1 vote
Hey there all! I just closed this year on my first duplex at the end of January and had a property management company do the listing and tenant screening and such as I am unfamiliar with how to do this. They took a months worth of rent to do it. The property is near San Antonio, Texas and I live in Sacramento, California. Is it a common practice to just have someone else take care of the listing, lease agreements, and tenant screening if the investment property is out of state? My folks live in San Antonio but they don't want any major responsibilities with this property. They may be willing to put a lockbox for self showings or something like that but they made it pretty clear they don't really want to step into that. Is tenant screening easier than it looks and are there blank lease agreements somewhere that I could use for individual states to be compliant with said state? I don't really want to give up a months rent if I could potentially make it happen on my own but just don't know how feasible that process would be. I don't need to do any tenant screening now but just looking towards the future. Thanks a lot!
Accountant · Seattle, WA · Member since 2025 · 188 posts · 57 votes
16h
@Adam Neeley Congratulations on acquiring the duplex—closing on a first investment property is a significant milestone. Experience owning properties outside Washington State shows that hiring a local property manager or leasing agent for tenant placement is common and often practical. A fee equal to one month’s rent is fairly typical for marketing, showings, screening, and lease execution. Although the fee can feel high, reliable local support is valuable when the owner cannot easily visit the property, coordinate access, or respond quickly if something goes wrong during the leasing process.
The screening tools themselves are relatively easy to use; the harder part is consistently applying qualification standards, using a state-compliant lease, documenting the property’s condition, and having someone local available for access or unexpected issues. Self-showings and online applications can reduce some of the work, but they do not eliminate the need for local oversight. A practical middle ground is to handle advertising and initial inquiries independently, then pay a Texas leasing professional or landlord-tenant attorney to review the screening criteria, lease, and move-in process. It is also worth comparing leasing-only packages, flat placement fees, and renewal fees rather than assuming full-service management is the only option. Starting with professional help was a sensible decision, and the process can be brought in-house gradually as experience, systems, and reliable local contacts develop.
Accountant · Seattle, WA · Member since 2025 · 188 posts · 57 votes
16h
@Adam Neeley Congratulations on acquiring the duplex—closing on a first investment property is a significant milestone. Experience owning properties outside Washington State shows that hiring a local property manager or leasing agent for tenant placement is common and often practical. A fee equal to one month’s rent is fairly typical for marketing, showings, screening, and lease execution. Although the fee can feel high, reliable local support is valuable when the owner cannot easily visit the property, coordinate access, or respond quickly if something goes wrong during the leasing process.
The screening tools themselves are relatively easy to use; the harder part is consistently applying qualification standards, using a state-compliant lease, documenting the property’s condition, and having someone local available for access or unexpected issues. Self-showings and online applications can reduce some of the work, but they do not eliminate the need for local oversight. A practical middle ground is to handle advertising and initial inquiries independently, then pay a Texas leasing professional or landlord-tenant attorney to review the screening criteria, lease, and move-in process. It is also worth comparing leasing-only packages, flat placement fees, and renewal fees rather than assuming full-service management is the only option. Starting with professional help was a sensible decision, and the process can be brought in-house gradually as experience, systems, and reliable local contacts develop.
Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
8h
Many are trying to expediate the process of screening applicants via technology.
Even Zillow offers this to landlords.
The problem?
They all put too much emphasis on a credit score instead of a credit profile!
Doing that for mortgages is what led to the Great Real Estate Crash of 2008-2010.
Observations & Recommendations:
1) Credit Score vs Credit Depth The mortgage industry learned the hard way, via the Great Recession, the fallacy of ONLY relying on credit scores😓 - The score is NOT accurate if there are not enough active tradelines! - So, we look at how many ACTIVE tradelines are on a credit report - We're looking for how many at least 12 months & 24 months of history - We ignore student loans and Chime, Connect, etc.
2) Residency History Verification You haven't mentioned if this applicant has a prior rental history or if they are living with relatives. - The background check we use gives us their last 7 years of reported addresses - Allows us to identify addresses/landlords they may be trying to hide! 3) Rental Payment History Applicants with lower scores NEED more focus on verifying this😮 - It's important to avoid fraudulent "landlords" via verifying who they are. - We check public records for legal owner of their previous rentals - In Michigan, we can even do a Business Entity to lookup on LLCs and often identify the property owner. - We verify their phone numbers via Google or Whitepages - We prefer rent ledgers, when possible, to ID late payment patterns - We also accept 12 months of bank statements showing rent payments
4) Income Validation It's way too easy to fraud paystubs these days😡. So, we also ask for a bank statement we can verify payroll deposits - since over 80% of employers now direct deposit. - On the paystub you submitted, you can see the direct deposit info, so get a copy of the corresponding bank statement. - There are some screening companies out there that get applicant approval to directly access their banking info via Plaid.
5) STABLE Income Calculation Tenants won't be able to make consistent rent payments, unless they have consistent income, which requires consistent employment🤑 - We require a 2-year work history - We somewhat validate this by also requiring last year's W-2(s) - We calculate income 4 ways to verify STABILITY: --- YTD monthly average (use YTD gross income and Pay THRU Date) --- Hourly rate monthly average --- Last year's monthly average (from W-2(s)) --- Monthly average of YTD and last year - We then compare and investigate if any vary by more than 10% (layoffs, illness, fraud, etc.) VERY FOOLISH TO 100% RECOGNIZE OVERTIME NOT AVERAGED OVER AT LEAST 12 MONTHS!!! - Seasonal and economy variances are very common
You might want to read our series about “How to Screen Applicants like a Pro”:
Investor · Hatboro, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 848 votes
7h
Yes, it’s pretty common, especially when you’re investing out of state. You can absolutely handle the leasing and screening yourself, but I’d ask whether saving one month’s rent is worth taking on the work and the risk.
One bad tenant can cost you a lot more than one month’s management fee. I’d probably let the property manager handle it for now and use the experience to learn how they screen, market the property and handle the lease process.
Once you’ve done it a few times, you can decide whether you want to take that part back yourself. For an out-of-state property, I’d rather have someone local who does this every day than save a little money and create another job for myself.
Attorney · 10451 Mill Run Cir #755 Owings Mills, MD 21117 · Member since 2024 · 340 posts · 124 votes
3h
Quote from @Adam Neeley:
Hey there all! I just closed this year on my first duplex at the end of January and had a property management company do the listing and tenant screening and such as I am unfamiliar with how to do this. They took a months worth of rent to do it. The property is near San Antonio, Texas and I live in Sacramento, California. Is it a common practice to just have someone else take care of the listing, lease agreements, and tenant screening if the investment property is out of state? My folks live in San Antonio but they don't want any major responsibilities with this property. They may be willing to put a lockbox for self showings or something like that but they made it pretty clear they don't really want to step into that. Is tenant screening easier than it looks and are there blank lease agreements somewhere that I could use for individual states to be compliant with said state? I don't really want to give up a months rent if I could potentially make it happen on my own but just don't know how feasible that process would be. I don't need to do any tenant screening now but just looking towards the future. Thanks a lot!
@Adam Neeley, I’ve worked with landlords who wanted to bring leasing and screening in house after paying someone else to handle it, and it can absolutely be done. The part I would be most careful with is not the software. It is having a clear process that you follow the same way for every applicant.
I would have written screening criteria before you advertise, document why each applicant is approved or denied, and use a lease that is actually written for the state where the property is located. I would not rely on a random blank lease you find online. I’ve seen small mistakes in the lease or screening process create much bigger problems later than the leasing fee would have cost.
I’d be glad to stay connected, @Adam Neeley. Since you are managing from another state, I think the goal is not just saving the fee, but building a process you can trust even when you are not there in person.
Elk Grove, Sacramento County · Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 1 vote
1h
I appreciate all of your helpful responses! I'm grateful I found a management company that was able to just help with the marketing and leasing/screening process and then hand off the management part to me so maybe I'll keep doing that going forward and do my best to learn the process thru the process of acquiring more properties. Thanks everyone!
If your folks don't want to handle the property, I wouldn't build a self-showing plan around them. The screening form is only one piece; someone still has to handle access, follow-up, and the lease locally. I'd price out a few leasing-only services against that month's rent before taking it all on remotely.
