Is anyone a landlord?

I have a question about the renting process. We have an apartment that we rent out. When it becomes available, and I make appointments for potential tenants to see it, I am always torn how to handle it. Am I supposed to rent it to the first qualified applicant who wants it? Or do I interview all and see who if the best fit? And if I wait until I've shown it to everyone, what do I tell people after I show them? Can I say that I will let them know because I have a few other people looking?

I just don't want to offend anyone. But often the first person to look at it will offer to leave a deposit when I haven't done any reference or employment checks yet. And then something may not check out and I eliminate them as an option.

It's just an awkward process altogether. Any advice is appreciated.

Re: Is anyone a landlord?

I became an accidental landlord on my old condo in 2008 when the market tanked and I was unable to sell it after getting engaged to DH. The first rule of thumb is - treat this as a business transaction and forget about offending anyone! Landlord and tenant relationships are business relationships. My philosophy is, the more lenient you appear to a potential tenant - the more likely they will take advantage of you and may possibly progress to the point where they wont pay you rent, or you have to start eviction proceedings.

The most important task as a new LL is to screen tenants properly. I started out with the LPA.com forums and read a few articles about how to screen tenants. First thing is - DO NOT ACCEPT A DEPOSIT FROM ANYONE YOU HAVENT SCREENED PROPERLY. You want to tell people, "I plan to have a tenant by January 1st, 2017 so please submit a copy of your credit report/deposit and references by __ and I will advise applicants by 12/1 of my decision."

This is how I handled it - I would schedule showings only on certain days - then tell them - "listen I have a lot of interested people so the first person that submits a completed application with credit report, references from prior landlord" will get the Yes - and then we will meet to sign the Lease. At lease signing, you get the keys."

My building required a written application so this made it harder for me to rent, but it really did a good job of weeding out people who just were too lazy to apply, or had bad credit, or bad landlord references. Since 2008 to just earlier this year, I've hone through 4 sets of tenants and only 1 pair were really "bad" (it was 2 college students who lied on the app and said it would be for them when they really moved in half their family from Turkey into the apt). My most recent tenant was NYPD and she was a great tenant.

Do not rush to just fill the vacancy - the quicker you rush, the easier it is to overlook bad qualities in potential tenants. Any other q's - feel free to PM me. :)

Is anyone a landlord?

Thank you so much, this is very helpful. Can I ask what site you use to run a credit report? I don't normally do that because I honestly didn't think as a homeowner I was allowed to. I usually have a rental application, take copies of pay stubs, check references and employment, and do a lot of online searches.

Re: Is anyone a landlord?

I had to pay for the background check, I think I used the Quick Credit Check services from LPA.com

https://www.thelpa.com/lpa/qc-tenantscreening.html

But if that is not possible, I would see if the tenant him/herself can provide you with their credit report - anything that comes from Experian, TransUnion or Equifax. If they tell you they dont want to provide it, you cross their name off the list.

Is anyone a landlord?

Thanks so much for all the help.

Is anyone a landlord?

As a tenant I have had to pay for a credit check ($50 each adult going on the lease). I always made sure to request a copy so I knew it was done.

Re: Is anyone a landlord?

Is anyone a landlord?

I always used a broker. Free for me and the tenant pays him. I like that I find someone who has the money to pay for a broker apt. They run all the checks and communication is through the broker.

Re: Is anyone a landlord?

we use a management company since we don't live in the same state as our rental. it has been a godsend...they take care of everything for a nominal fee.

another option, if you haven't considered it

Re: Is anyone a landlord?

Re: Is anyone a landlord?

Is anyone a landlord?

I just want to add, I would prefer not to deal with a broker and deal with the home owner directly. broker raise the cost of the rent from I can tell and what I have discovered to the point rent in sky high. A few homeowners I have heard from told me they stopped using brokers because they are not always truthful, just to get the sale. the place in the Rockaways, a condo he was asking $1,000 he brought a broker in and she decided it should be $1,500. Well, guess what forget I cant, that's too much to A) shell out, 1500 to a broker who is not doing any leg work for me 2_) a month. Just a note, Many times the brokers DO not pull crd reports etc. That can cause a LL to lose a really good renter, who has a good job and crd. Sometimes brokers are not the answer. As a renter I would prefer to meet with the HO, where you can get a chance to feel each other out JMO

Message edited 12/3/2016 2:11:07 PM.