Tenant Screening, I have a few questions

[Rick M.]

I happen to have lucked out and get good tenants for my first building. I’m now in the process of locking in another Multi-family property. This building isn’t fully rented. I have a couple of questions.

I plan on using Mysmartmove.com and Cozy.co when I do screen tenants but I also want to know what should I be asking before we even get to that stage of screening. What questions should I be asking after a showing to a potential tenant, on the phone beforehand and questions should I  be asking at the showing of a new unit?

I want to do a thorough job screening. Any useful help is wanted and needed at this point. Thanks BP!!

[Cara Lonsdale]

For income verification, it is a good rule of thumb to expect a minimum of at least 3X the income to rent, but 4X if you want to be on the more conservative side.  You can ask for paycheck stubs to verify income, and you can send a VOE to their employer to verify length of employment as well.  Your screening company may do these things already.

In terms of what to ask on a phone call, be sure you have all of your deal breakers to mention.  For me, this would mean asking about pets (we don't allow cats of any kind, or aggressive breed dogs, or dogs over a certain weight in our condo units that have HOAs that prevent it).  Ask them how long of a lease they are looking for (we have a minimum 12 month lease) to gauge whether they are going to be long term tenants, or not.  Ask them how soon they are looking to move.  You would be surprised how many people start their search 2-3 months out.  I am not holding a property that long. 

When you go to show, ask them these questions over again.  You would be surprised how many times you get a different answer than over the phone.  If everything seems to go well, offer them an application (or point them to the website), and give them instructions for submitting it to you.  Make it easy for them, so this may mean that you have business cards printed up with the URL of the application link.  If they have to work too hard, they won't do it unless it's in a high demand area.