Pre-Screening Tenants

[Shawn M.]

I was reading Brandon Turner's step by step guide on renting home and had a question on the pre-screening tenant section. He recommends setting rental criteria and reviewing it over the phone. I was thinking of listing the criteria in the ad that I post to eliminate calls from those that do not meet the criteria. What are your thoughts on that approach?

[James Wise]

Definitely put some criteria in the ad. You will still get a bunch of idiots calling you but its WAY less then the amount of idiots you would get if you did not put some criteria in the add.

If you do credit and criminal checks put it in the add. It will save you so much time.

The last thing I want to do is drive to a rental house to meet some schmuck. Only agree to meet with people you like and that you would want to rent to. If they are not willing to answer all your questions then they are not that motivated to live there and would most likely have wasted your time.

Another tip I learned. Craigslist is where all the idiots look for housing. Zillow and trulia usually provide much better leads.

Not to say I don't still use craigslist its just that the ratio of idiots per intelligent people who call me is much higher from a craigslist add.