Questions from an aspiring Landlord

[Ben Warren]

Hey everyone, I'm currently in the process of finding my first rental property. I figured once I found one it would be important to me to get a tenant in ASAP. along with that obviously comes with a few things so my questions are :

1. how do your tenants pay you?

obviously there is the traditional method of a physical check every month but I know that there is something better. I have heard of paynearme but I know nothing about it.

2. what is the best way to acquire a tenant contract?

3. how do you screen tenants, what is your criteria? is there a helpful website?

any info helps me out so I appreciate it! Thanks

[Dana Dunford]

@Ben Warren- 

• Payment: I have my tenants set up automatic direct deposit (ACH transfer). Tenants who are unwilling to set up auto-pay is a sign (at least to me) that they may be late on payment and don't have sufficient funds. 
• Tenant Contract: Do you mean a Rental Agreement (aka lease agreement if it's a fixed term)? I actually recommend getting a rock solid rental agreement from a lawyer. Alternatively, you can use a state specific one. RocketLawyer can provide this at a very affordable price. I don't recommend getting a free one offline. They're never up-to-date and can get you in trouble.
• Screening Tenants: The most costly expense is a bad tenant. You should do both credit and background check. There are various sites out there to do it. I use Apply Connect because it also provides the tenant with a copy of the complete report. Bigger Pockets recommends MySmartMove. You can use any of them, as they all give you basically the same information. I just recommend consistency between tenants, because (for example) MySmartMove is TransUnion credit reports and Apply Connect is Experian credit reports. You want apples-to-apples when comparing tenants.

 I hope that helps! And congrats on starting off your real estate investing career.