Tenant screening process, Cash flow questions

[Marissa Mallamo]

Good morning!

I asked these questions as a reply in a thread of another post I started, but I'm not sure if others will be notified of my replies so I am making a new post here as well.

I do have a few more questions on the rental process now that I just posted the property for rent last night on zillow, postlets, hot pads, etc.

1- What is considered tenant screening vs discrimination? Do I have to rent to the first person who is interested and offers the full rent amount being asked, just because they meet the criteria I'm looking for, or can I screen a few people and then decide? I'm trying to learn what my options are while obviously staying compliant with rules and regulations

2- After much reading on BP, I can see the theme here is Cash Flow is king. I'm sure every situation is different for every investor, but is there a general baseline amount of $ that is considered cash flow? Is $50 or $100 a month left after paying PITI and maintenance still considered cash flow? (side note, this is a property I am currently living in and turning into a rental, so it's not a brand new deal that I'm analyzing to decide to buy or not based on cash flow)

Thanks in advance!!

[Dawn Anastasi]

You want at a minimum $100 per month cash flow however sometimes people take less if they are speculating on large appreciation gains on the property.