Too much interest in rental... how to choose?

[Cristina Zulaica]

I've gone through the search to find similar discussion topics on this subject, but have read some conflicting points of view, so wanted to post my situation and get some feedback!

I became an accidental landlord and recently put my house on the market to rent out. Unique little cottage on a huge corner lot, lots of little perks, charming historic aesthetic. Turns out it shows pretty well online because I have had a complete inundation of interest in the past 48 hours. Probably 60+ leads, pre-screened and scheduled 15 showings over the course of the next 5 days (through the weekend). It has been difficult to even keep up with communications and scheduling while balancing work and training time.

I had the first round of showings last night, had 5 different couples come by in an hour span to look at the house. Everyone who was scheduled showed up, extremely motivated, seem qualified after asking the same questions to everyone, so I provided a link to the online application and encouraged everyone to apply.

So far I have gotten 3 applications, all qualified, but I still have around 10 more showings! How should I handle the situation and be as fair as possible? I have seen some people say to go with the first qualified applicant who applied, some say ask for the highest rent offer, etc, etc. Inventory for SFH is extremely low in this area, and from what I have heard from the couples last night there is not a lot of good quality homes like mine on the market.

Any suggestions? I want to be as fair as possible but I regret to think that I priced the home too low (Tampa, FL - $1300 a month, includes landscaping that I pay $120 a month for...). My coach is an attorney and works in real estate so I am getting advice from him as well. Any other points of view would be greatly appreciated!

[Jeremy Pace]

@Cristina Zulaica

You're on the right track.  When I show rentals, I schedule as many people for the same time as possible ... that way I can walk them all through at once, and give them all the same speech.

Applications for rent are considered in the order received.  If they pay the app fee, I'll run it.  Once they are approved, the first person to come to me with the deposit money gets to sign a lease.  So I have a stack of apps, I make everyone sign in name and number, and then I go home and run the apps.

In almost every case, this works really well.  I also discourage people from coming to the viewing until they have all their documentation (HCV specific ... I don't want to deal with a tenant who hasn't told their current landlord they intend to move).

Obviously, check to make sure your rent isn't toooo low, but the worst case is you learn a hard lesson about anchoring, and you adjust the rent next year.