What to put in rental ad as first wave of tenant screening?

Question

Can anyone point me to a thread or comment on what they put in a rental ad that would increase the odds of getting quality tenants for a single family home?  Thanks!

Account Closed · Answer

job history, credit references, and application fee required

Account Closed · Answer

Where I rented apartments in the SF Bay Area, I'd get a ton of responses to ads.  So, I did put my screening criteria in the ads and I think it did help screen some tenants.  Then, when I talk to them on the phone, I go down the list and ask them if they believe they would qualify.  That will screen out a bunch more.

If there's anywhere you can advertise other than a site like Craigslist, it will really help in getting good tenants without having to deal with a bunch that won't qualify.  I don't know your desired tenant, but we loved grad students, so I would advertise first on the law school rental website at the university next door.  The law school housing office would even list my vacancies on their facebook page!

I also offered my tenants (26 unit apt building) a rent credit of $100 if they referred someone that I rented to.  My own tenants were a great source of great tenants - and no advertising!

I also first let calls go to voicemail.  You can learn a lot about someone by the way they leave messages.  Sometimes they sound higher than a kite, or there's a boyfriend or someone swearing loudly in the background, or you can hear someone telling them what to say.  I would just "forget" to call those back lol.

My criteria did not include bankruptcy after the housing crash.  So, I removed bankruptcy from my criteria.  Plus, someone who has recently filed bankruptcy can't include you in one for another 10 years or so.  They're not a bad risk if everything else looks good.

I included "no co-signers" in my criteria.  I found this weeded out a lot of undesirables.

Otherwise, mine was basically " all applicants will be thoroughly screened with criminal/credit/eviction/employment/landlord reference checks. Relatives may not be used as references.  Sorry, no co-signers, and no pets accepted. The entire property is non-smoking.  Our screening criteria is strict, in order to keep our tenants happy and safe."  Something along those lines.

Account Closed · Answer

You need to setup a Criteria that qualifies the applicants for your homes.

• Must be employed for at least a year
• Must make at least three times the rent
• Must have more good credit than bad
• Must have no landlord evictions against them

The above are some examples.  BUT BE CAREFUL.  Watch out for NO NO Words

You want people to slam on the breaks when they are driving down the street to view another home that's for rent and stop at your home instead.  In order to do that you need to have great CURB APPEAL.

Have a Website that shows the pictures of your home inside and out.  This is great for going to court and the tenant says your home looked like crap when in fact it looked like a million dollars.  You have the web page as evidence and you print out the photo's to take to court.   WordPress.com is totally free.  You can have as many webpages as you want for Free.  I don't work for them, so I hope this post isn't deleted.

The next thing you want to have is a great answering system to take care of all those phone calls you most likely will get regarding your property.  I use Vonage Phone.  It is an Internet Phone and keeps track of every phone call made to you and every call you make to them.  The time, the date and is a great tool to have in case you need to go to court.

• Get yourself organized.
• Do things right
• Learn the laws of your state
• Learn the City Ordinances of where your properties are located
• Attend Landlord Associations to have other to talk with about this business
• Attend some landlord/tenant court hearings to see how the Judges treat landlords
• Learn how to deal with people, be a good listener, be compassionate, but be fair, and firm and stick to your lease agreement. 
• Make sure your application form with your criteria is legal
• Make sure your lease agreement is legal and protecting YOU as well as the Tenant.  Most lease agreement protect the tenant more so than the landlord.

Just some tips for you.

Nancy Neville

Aly W. · Answer

I've found most people don't read past the first line or two in an ad, or not even that much of it. But I'll put the pertinent info at the top, in the middle, and at the bottom of the ad anyway, in bold.

No evictions, judgments, or criminal records. If the property is pet-free, I also put NO PETS. That has not stopped many applicants from asking (or only telling me when I ask) that they have pets. One of our condo properties requires a minimum credit score for board approval, and I put that in. I also put the move-in costs. Again, most people don't/won't read.

@Mike Moreken in regards to Trenton, NJ, I use an attorney there who specializes in landlord/tenant law and who wrote my lease. They have also defended it in court several times and the tenant was always removed as speedily as possible. I know other towns/cities in NJ where this process can take months or longer, so I always advocate using a specialized attorney in this tenant friendly state. Trenton is a landlord friendly city, within the law.

As for compassion, I do my best to work with good tenants. I have one now that was in a car accident several months ago and can't work. Her boyfriend is supporting their family on 1 paycheck and is sometimes late. I told them not to worry about it, they have been excellent tenants for 3 years and I will work with them, no late fees. Another tenant was having trouble paying the full amount of rent on the the 1st after a few years, and said she might have to move. I don't want to lose her, and agreed to a bi-weekly rent payment plan, no late fees. They're both struggling and I won't raise either of their rents, and haven't, in the last 3 years.

But when I feel a tenant is playing me, then I'm all business.

Marcia Maynard · Answer

Compassion is something we value. You can run a good business and still show compassion. I'm with @Nancy Nelville on this one. Some of our longest term tenants (23 years and 26 years) are with us today because of our compassion. By responding to the human need, we have built good will and loyalty. We have also shown compassion during an eviction process and it cost us nothing but did make the process easier for both parties. It is possible to be compassionate without allowing tenants to take advantage of the situation.

We establish and maintain good landlord-tenant relationships by having an effective rental agreement in place which is clearly written and protects both us and our tenants. WA landlord-tenant laws protect both the landlord and the tenant. We interact with our tenants effectively by enforcing our rental agreement in a manner which is swift, firm, fair, and polite. In light of extenuating circumstances, we have also been flexible in our approach and compassionate.

Bill S. · Answer

Personally I want to do the screening and not the applicant. For example, if I say "good credit required," that means different things to different people. I've had people tell me they have good credit when they have judgments and charge offs. I've had people tell me they have bad credit and they owe on one medical bill. I want to be the one to determine whether or not I will rent to them. I don't want them deciding I wouldn't rent to them. Also if you write down the criteria, the tenant knows what to do to deceive you and what to hide from you if they are so inclined.

I use my ad to describe the property and sell it to the applicants. Once they call, that is when I begin the screening process.

John Thedford · Answer

I like to put the requirements in the ad itself. If they bother to read the full ad, they know what I expect. Here is a generalization:Minimum income of x requiredNo evictions on the credit reportNo felony convictions on criminal history reportNo smokingPets on a case by case basisApplication fee of x requiredThese go at the bottom of the ad. In the body of the ad I describe the property, its characteristics, its benefits, the price, and lease term. Be very careful in your descriptions so you do not violate fair housing laws. Also, I don't like to put stuff in like "safe neighborhood", etc. I will put in "nice area of single family homes, close to schools, close to shopping" if they apply. Best to get a good lease from the start that you can always amend and improve. Good luck.

Sam Leon · Answer

Personally I don't put down criteria like how much salary, and no foreclosure/bankruptcy history or this or that in the ads.  I focus on describing the actual property itself.

However there are some numbers in the ad that will screen out some applicants, such as "One year lease only, first, last, and security deposit due upon lease signing" and "application includes criminal/credit/eviction history screening and employment/income verification".  Those two combined says what I need to say.

In the actual application form, if it gets that far, is where I ask if they have ever been evicted, if they have ever defaulted on a lease, if they have petitioned for bankruptcy, if they have been convicted...on the application form, I also put down the property address and rent amount, and next to the employment section, where they put down their monthly or yearly gross salary, I also have a box next to it printed the 3*monthly rent and 3*yearly rent.  Every applicant asked "what's are these numbers?" which is sort of my reminder to explain to them this is not a hard and fixed policy, but a general guideline...that I look for a number equal or exceeding that, or else I need some other source of verifiable income.  This gives the applicant a chance to back out and not waste the app fee.

Marcia Maynard · Answer

I agree with others who suggest looking at the market and what others are putting in their advertising. The more the prospective renter knows in advance about the property and about our management style, the better able they will be able to determine whether to pursue renting from us.

Great photos are essential. I also print some of our key rental criteria to reduce the number of calls from people who will not qualify. This includes criteria such as no smoking, no pets, 3x income preferred but 2.5x acceptable with additional security deposits. etc.  I also let people know upfront that we own and manage our own properties, are an active member of our local rental association, and that we partner with law enforcement.

We give our contact details, times when we will be taking calls, and explain our application process, such as we do telephone screening before showing our properties and we do complete background checks. We also print our mission statement in our ad as well: "We strive to provide safe, clean, affordable, comfortable and quiet housing for responsible renters in the neighborhoods of west Vancouver."

MONICA WATSON · Answer

Good credit, No foreclosures, deposit, lease term. Even though you put this most people don't read it anyways from my experience as a new landlord!

What to put in rental ad as first wave of tenant screening?

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