Renting to a relocating tenant sight unseen

[Martin T.]

I'm looking for a little advice here.  I recently purchased my 2nd rental property, this one is in Durham, NC.  I've shown the property to about 8 people over the past 2 weeks, but the only couple interested in putting in an application is a couple moving from upstate NY.  They have not seen the property in person other than about 20 photos, and I did a video tour for them of the property and they want to move forward with renting it, and cannot make it down to see it in person before they're relocation.

Other than the sight unseen concern, his income is only 2.1x monthly rent, and she will be looking for a job.  They both claim to have good credit (need to check that, and I will), and have plenty of funds in savings to cover the entire lease if needed.

Would you still consider them, or would you require a hefty security deposit or rent pre-payment?  The issue I'm running into is that Durham is a rather affordable area, so most people with good income and good credit are looking to purchase, not rent.

Any advice would be so appreciated!

[Martin T.]

Thanks everyone for all your advice and support. I used mysmartmove.com to get their info - both applicants had a 750+ credit score. I called references, employers and their previous landlord and they all gave glowing reviews. I also got bank statements that showed they could essentially pay rent for 3 years with no income.  The lesson I think I learned here is to keep getting info, backup and references until my doubts are gone, and they pretty much are now. If going through those steps revealed red flags, then I would have stopped the process.

I sent them the lease last night and they have signed and are FedExing back to me today. 

I guess every applicant is different but this couple seems like they will be great renters. 

Thanks again for all the advice!