How do I analyze a tenant??

[Diego Howard]

I have a client who called me from my business card requesting a rental property asap. My thoughts were to pull his credit but I'm not authorized to do that. Do I need to find a mortgage broker in Atlanta? Any recommendations? What else do I need to do in order to determine they are a good fit for my first rental property management deal.

[Anna Watkins]

Hi @Diego Howard - somebody needing a place ASAP is a red flag (looming eviction, running from something or somebody?).  There are a ton of great resources here on BP -- Tenant Screening: The Ultimate Guide that Brandon posted is the first thing you should read (that's the ASAP to pay attention to now!).  

First you need to develop a pre-screening questionnaire, for when you're talking to prospectives on the phone.  If you tell them up front you need a credit report, or no prior evictions allowed, that you will be checking references, what the deposits are, etc, you will weed out folks who won't be a good fit for your properties anyway.  Then you have time to proceed with a thorough screening.  

Especially if this is your first time out managing a property for someone else, take the time to do it right and get a top-quality tenant for your owner.  Be timely and efficient, but not speedy. Best of luck!