All Forum Posts by: Maria G.

Thanks for your responses. I had the open house yesterday and my tenants had their place in pristine shape. Between showings, I read that article and wondered if there were limitations.

I came across this article and wondered if that is so (only two open houses per month):

https://www.aoausa.com/magazine/?p=1688

That refers to an open house for sale, but just wondering.

Thanks!

@Pancham G.: Thank you very much. Great ideas. 

I have never used a google form for this, so zillow/zumper don't complain about using external websites?

I also didn't know about the "Google voice numbers." I just got in and see that you can choose from a pool, very limited, but I guess, it is OK. I was just hoping to get something in the area where the property is, but that is not possible. But it seems like a great idea to have a temporary number just for business. I guess it can be released anytime.

Hello,

I have worked on finding a new tenant for my rental during the past 3 weeks (after getting notice). Two years ago it rented very easily with just one open house. These year's ad drew a lot of attention. I had a first phase to screen applicants before the viewing date (tomorrow). I only got 3 (a bad, and two good), as most people wanted to see the unit before being screened. Yesterday, I opened a second phase to start providing slots to those who provided answers to 7 simple questions (total income, credit score, etc.). But I see that is not enough, so I am going to need an actual "open house." That makes me nervous because of posts I see here about risks of having property stolen from the current tenants. I plan to minimize it by letting only one or two families in and having the rest outside (another agent will be at the door). Any suggestions? Here are also some questions:

- Do you provide a phone number as well as the address when you have an open house? I am just a private owner, so I am afraid of people using my personal number.

- Do you advertise an open house to Craigslist as well? I currently have the listing ad on CL, zillow, and zumper. Again, concerned with privacy.

- Do you ask them to give you a check deposit to hold it if they like it at the open house? I prefer not to because at that point, I won't yet have them screened.

Thanks!

I'm chiming in a bit late: just wondering if asking for a full name is appropriate. That would help weed out people. Of course they can always lie... but so it is with any question on the form.

Thanks!

Thanks, everyone for your teachings. I took good notes of all of it.

@Thomas S.: You are right. I am new, this is my first rental, so I do have a lot to learn. As with everything in life, it takes time. So thanks for taking the time to teach me something.

However, in this case, I was glad I followed my instinct and stayed calm. I am pretty good at reading people and that has served me in this case. I drove two hours on the inconvenient day (Monday) and met the guy (my tenants are a couple + the two cats). Everything was in pristine shape. I think I don't even need new paint! No cat odor, no scratches, just nicely maintained for the past two years. He told me how much they loved the house--their new place will save them 15%+ a month. They could have afforded my place, but it meant no savings. He was super nice and showed me everything. 

Having said that, I have learnt from everyone here that I need to make sure tenants understand from the get-go that I can go in any time, that I'm probably better off with no cats, and that I need to do inspections. Does everyone do quarterly inspections? In my 10 years being a renter (before), nobody did inspections and at one of the places I stayed for six years. They made no mistake with me, I always got my deposit back in full.

@Jim K.: Thanks for giving me the other side of things.

Hello, coming in 4 years late... does anyone have experience with electronic keys?

Thank you everyone for your advice. I have now learned the lesson. I am driving 2 hours (+2 back) today to get a copy of my keys, more than anything. They have the two sets of keys that the person who rekeyed them gave us.

@Jeff Copeland: Is the swapping straight-forward or does it require a locker? Is there a way to not change everything (reuse the current lock)?

@Thomas S.: I didn't know that grading, so thanks for teaching me. 

It is definitely a class B, no less for sure. I don't mean to compromise my standards. I was just wondering if stating more than minimums is a good idea. My current tenants had 800 credit scores and could make 3x the rent. I discarded a candidate that made like 10x the rent and had very good scores. 

I currently have an applicant that makes 3.6 times the rent, but her score, although zillow consideres it excellent (690 on Vantage 3.0), it doesn't sound so wonderful to me. But it is true that she's a homeowner and she's divorcing, so perhaps once she sells the house, her score will go up.

@Nathan Gesner, @Rehan A.: OK, perhaps I should indeed list some minimum credit score. However, don't different systems (Vantage, FICO) work differently? Does a 690 mean the same for all?