Multiple good choices - How do you choose your tenant?

[Tim Wilson]

Hey all!

Let me tell you, it has been a whirlwind of a week. In an attempt to keep it a bit shorter than a book, we semi recently closed on a townhome in N Metro T2 suburb of Minneapolis. We had it basically rented with a friend of a friend that needed to get out of his parents and into more space with another child on the way. Sounded awesome, background check etc etc all checked out, ended up getting a call from them earlier this week and come to found out she is carrying twins (congrats to them!) but obviously greatly changes a financial situation especially on a single income.

That brings me to the main reason of the post. Flipped directions a bit and went over to the place immediately to get pictures and post it on social media/Zillow/etc etc. Within that night we had over 30 replies with tons of them wanting to come see it. (honestly I feel very humbled after the work we put into it, I feel like this is a bit of an abnormal situation to get that much attention for a place) The thought went through our head maybe we underpriced? I initially thought we were overpriced after looking at comps throughout north metro as well as talking to a couple property management companies and what similar places rent for in our same neighborhood.

Sorry, back to main point. Had 9 showings scheduled last night after pre screening tenants with various questions etc and trying to thin it down a bit. 6 of 9 showed, all were interested in applying and going through background check. It is now the next day and we have probably 2 to 3 that for sure stand out and a possible 4th.

My question to you is if you have multiple tenants that really do not separate themselves in any way, how do you make the choice? The big thing for us was getting somebody that could move in immediately to eliminate any vacancy costs, lucky for us a few of them can. My sister got into a situation similar as a renter herself in Chicago, obviously very different market etc but is it even legal and if so how would I approach this to basically try and make either a bidding war or some sort of separation between the potential tenants?

Any advice is appreciated! We need to make our decision very soon so time is ticking. Thank you!!

[Thomas S.]

No two applicants are ever equal, you have not dug deep enough yet to find reasons to reject. Remember the entire purpose of screening is to find reasons to eliminate applicants.

Look harder, consider why some are free and available to move immediately (I would never consider accepting any applicant available immediately), inspect their present housing, see if they are concealing pets, are they considering buying a home in the near future, are they married or just living together. find out where the lies are in their applications....every applicant lies.

Consider length of employment, double or single income, likely hood of upcoming family situation changes, exact credit scores, interrogate their previous landlords and talk to their present landlord to confirm they have given proper notice. Check and see how they maintain their vehicles. Did any balk at providing personal info, Social security #, banking info etc. on the application form. There are hundreds of factors that you can use to easily eliminate any applicant.

I have screened hundreds of applicants over the years and have never found any two to be equally qualified. You need to dig deeper, set up interviews, grill them and catch them in lies, see if any are overly eager etc. If you believe they are all equal you have not completed your screening. Dig deeper and you will find the flaws and dodge a bullet.