Having trouble finding QUALIFIED tenants in Arlington TX

[John Park]

I am currently trying to lease a property for the first time in Arlington, Texas and am experiencing frustration in finding a QUALIFIED tenant for my SFH. I feel that the rent, security deposit and other qualification requirements are all in line with the surrounding market, and there has been quite a lot of interest in the house. I've had many showings and even more phone calls. The biggest problem that I realized that these 'prospectives' had was with my credit score requirement (at least 640). These are my current requirements:

- $1395/month rent (average for the market)

-$1500 security deposit

-$50 application fee

-$250 non-refundable pet deposit (max 2 pets)

-minimum 640 credit score (the killer as it seems)

I have even tried offering those with lower credit scores the opportunity to lease with a higher monthly rent and/or higher security deposit but can't get anyone to even turn in an application (wasting lots of paper at this time).

I would be concerned as opposed to frustrated if there was no interest, but with the activity the past month (I've been trying for a month), I know that there are renters out there.

As I have indicated, I think the credit score issue is the speed hump, but I could be wrong. The house is not in any way a dump, it is a very nice 80's build 3/2/2 in a nice quiet neighborhood. Just can't figure out what I need to do to reel a tenant in! Any advice or feedback will be appreciated as this is the first time having to find a tenant (my first house was an inherited tenant).

[Andy Webb]

@John Park - depending on where you are in Arlington, your rent amount sounds in line (zip code or sq ft would be helpful to be sure).  We charge $350 non-refundable pet fee per dog (no cats) up to two dogs (plus $10 per month pet rent).  Our leasing agent charges a $45 app fee.  So far so good.

Concerning the security deposit, we always do rent + $50.  So in your case, $1,445.  Not much lower, but may make a difference for some folks.  Of course, if we do get apps where the credit score is low or has dings that we don't like, we will increase the security deposit (not the rent).  BUT we always frame it as follows:  let's say we double the deposit from $1500 to $3000, we let them know we are not interested in just sitting on their cash, and we write into the lease the following carrot: if they pay on time the 1st 6 months of the lease, then we refund 50% of that extra deposit (e.g. $750), if they pay on time the next 6 months, we refund the 2nd 50%.  We are typically doing 2-year leases in this scenario.  This has worked very well for us, trains the tenants to pay on time at the start and makes us look good since we are paying them cash from time to time.

We will look below a 640 credit score by the way.  No recent bankruptcies or evictions.  

I can recommend a great realtor that offices down in Arlington - we have used her for a ton of lease ups and she typically has residual leads from other houses for a quick turn around. PM me if interested, or call the number below.

Andy