All Forum Posts by: Paul Ronto

There are lots of listing sites out there. My advice is to use one that syndicates your listing to them all so you don't have to retype it two dozen times. Lots of good free software out there to help your process. Also, yes add to Craigslist as many people still look there as well. 

Most importantly though, sit down and write out your minimum acceptance criteria so you know what standards you want to hold as you start talking to people. It's crucial that you are diligent in tenant screening, get a credit, criminal and eviction report on anyone that you are seriously considering signing a lease with. The better you are at screening the easier being an actual landlord will be once tenants move in. 

Good luck, let us know if you have any other questions! 

I agree with the other answers here, put your minimum acceptance criteria in your ads 100%. It weeds out a lot of wasted time and answering of the same questions. Just be careful you don't cross any lines with HUD or the Fair Housing Act, there are a lot of protected classes and getting hit with an unfair practices complaint would not be fun.

Good luck and let us know if you have any additional questions. Hope this helps!

As others said, call his current and future employer as a reference, ask to see an offer letter, ask to see the last 2 months bank statement, or in the case of self-employed, ask to see last year's tax returns or some other documented income statement. 

Credit, criminal and eviction reports can go a long way to getting you most of these answers, but some do take some additional digging. 

Good luck! Let us know how it goes and if you have any other questions. 

The simple answer to why people don't have this on their own sites is because collecting ACH payments is not that simple. There's a lot to look out for from fraud, to banking regulations and so forth. The complicated answer is yes you could probably build this if you're a developer but others have solved this problem and added a ton of features around it that make landlording easier, why not use one of those solutions?

What's your goal in only accepting payments? Do you have a specific need in rent collection that the online tools do not offer you? Do you not have a need for the other tools? 

Hope this helps a bit. 

It all depends on what your lease states. Mine state that appliance failure due to regular use and life I will replace or fix, but any reason to suspect misuse or negligence it's the renters responsibility. It's hard to prove if things look fine, but normally in my experience, if there is misuse it's easy to see, dents in the washer, cotton balls down the drain and so forth. Scrapes on the wall can be expected, but holes... I think you get my point, if it logically doesn't make sense then it's probably misuse. 

You've got a lease and a move-in report, I think you are looking good. 

A few things, first, you will not be forced to sign anything, so don't sign anything they ask you to that you don't understand. Let them know you want to have your attorney look over any contract before you sign anything. 

Take your time, don't let them rush you either, it's your property, and they signed a contract to take care of it. Security deposits are there for a reason, to cover the property owner should there be an issue with the condition of the property upon move out. 

One question, do you have a signed copy of the property condition report you gave them at move in? That's going to be crucial to compare to the current condition of the property, especially if there are any discrepancies they want to fight you on, and even more important if this ends up in court, not saying it will, but the condition report is key. If you didn't get one signed at move in, don't stress, it's a good learning experience, I'm sure you'll get one moving forward.  

I'd say to avoid a battle, if these tenants are really that pushy, think about what you can fix on your own easily, like touching up paint and what not, vs what is really crucial that they need to pay for like holes in the walls, or extensive damage. I'm not saying let them walk all over you, but if they want to fight, it may not be worth fighting over some small things. Items I look for are, does the flooring need to be replaced, do all appliances work, its is clean enough for the next group to move in or does it need extensive cleaning, what condition is the yard in, anything mechanically wrong (do the toilets flush, windows open, garage door work, locks and keys all work and so forth).

You can bring a handy many with you if you have one that's cheap, if you are really concerned you can always hire a home inspector, but that's going to cost you 400-500$, and probably overkill. If there's serious damage though I would have a contractor come in. Anything you plan on charging them for, be sure to document with pictures and get a proper estimate if it requires professional work, or look online for suggested costs for small repairs, most property inspection services can provide you with a cheat sheet of costs for small things. 

Good luck, and let us know if there are any other questions, I hope it goes well. 

There are lots of sites to run reports, just be sure you get credit, criminal and eviction, and it's best if you get those all from one source so they are cross checked. Some bureaus outsource one or more of their reports from other agencies so there may not be proper cross-checking, for example, the credit report on a Mike Smith may not match the criminal report you're receiving about another Mike Smith.

For work references, I would recommend personally calling. You should gather their employer's name and number through the application process as well as past landlord information. Take that and give them a shout, you'll learn more about your prospective tenant if you reach out personally. 

Hope that helps, let me know if you have other questions. 

@Shaun R. I would go the digital route for your application, there are a ton of benefits there, easy to manage, integrated with screening reports, no retyping tenant info into your database or to pull reports, plus it's usually way easier for tenants to fill out. I know a lot of my tenants claim they don't have a printer, so I used to end up printing them out and delivering them to the tenant, which was a big time suck. With online you can just forward a link and they can apply from their phone. 

@Yulia Kaygorodtseva , I would be careful with the Section 8 language, it's not a federally protected class, but it can be a protected class in some states or city. Be careful in what you blatantly call out as a negative in your acceptance criteria and what you omit. 

If there is not a ban in your location you can decide to not accept people with Section 8 vouchers, but again if you clearly state that you will refuse applicants with Section 8 vouchers you could be inviting discrimination complaints based on other protected classes. 

As for smokers, some states actually have protections surrounding smoking laws, but as far as I know, those are mainly based on employment law not fair housing. To be safe double check your state and local laws regarding this. 

Good luck and let us know if you have any other screening questions, we're happy to help!

A big tip that's helped me save a ton of time was to do open houses rather than individual showings. I start marketing a property that's going to come up for rent in 3-5 months, and I tell all prospects that there will be an open house on a Saturday a week or two out a specific time, usually 1-3pm, and anyone that can make it to the open house is welcome to come check the property out. It works well, I never struggle to get interest and it saves me from 10 individual showings a week. 

Yes, I may loose some potential people through this process, but it also helps me weed people out that are searching last minute (possibly irresponsible) or people that are not really interested in the location or unit. From the people that do show up, I take name and emails, and anyone that's really interested I give them instructions on how to start the screening process and apply. 

It's worked for years for me, I'm in a busy college town though, so there's usually not a limit to the number or people looking. In all the years I've done these open houses, I've never had to hold a second open house, I've signed a lease with someone every time, making my total showing time for a property just over 2 hours.