Don't Scare Away Your Best Applicants!

[Richard C.]

Good tenants are gold.  Gold that is derived from good applicants.  Way too often, I am seeing advice on these forums that, if followed, will result in landlords losing some of their strongest applicants.

Probably the best known example, and one discussed on here frequently, is in setting the rent.  Not uncommonly, you will see people thinking that by setting the rent high compared to the market, they will get better tenants.  Fortunately, there are experienced people here who will correct that thinking.  The only people who will willingly pay over market rent are those people who don't have a lot of choices, those who know that there is some weakness in their application.  Setting the rent over market results in a worse applicant pool, not a better one.

That advice is pretty common on BP.  But people generally fail to extend the logic in obvious directions.

Just as people won't PAY more unless they have to, people won't PUT UP with more unless they have to.  You need to keep that in mind when deciding how onerous to make your application process.  There have been recent threads suggesting surprise visits to the applicants current home, and in-person visits to their listed place of employment.  When I was a tenant, I would never have accepted this.  I didn't have to; I was an excellent prospect with a good job, good credit, and a solid history.  The only people who will put up with an onerous process are those who HAVE TO, because they don't have any choices.

Just something to keep in mind.