First showing of rental

[Brian K]

First of all thanks to all the people that gave me advice on advertising. Got a sign in the yard and I'm on craigslist. No less than 5 minutes after post on CL, somebody called my cell. I was laughing and had to try and stop when I answered the phone. Those people came today to look at the apartment. Seemed like nice stable people mid 30's but the girl had a notebook and they said they are "looking" for at least the next week. She was looking around the place and writing stuff down. I kind of felt like "I" was on an interview and had no idea what they were thinking. I guess it will take some time to get used to this.

[Ed O.]

I'd suggest, if you're not already, doing some serious prescreening of prospective tenants. It's critical to know their income, job / work history, when they plan to move, how many occupants will reside there (don't ask how many kids - they could try and play the discrimination card), credit, current housing situation / why moving, pets, what type, do they have money for the security deposit,among other things.

I had a guy want to rent from me.... and he had NO job (or money). That's the beauty of prescreening. I didn't show him the house, have him love it and then hate me for not "helping him out", etc. It stopped right then and there.

Early on I wasted a lot of time showing to people that didn't fit some simple criteria I had in mind.

Some things a lot of people shoot for:
Income 3x monthly rent
Solid work history
Commitment to paying past housing costs

The person that wants it now, and can move in tomorrow is NEVER the person you want. They're the squatters that just found out their landlord has finally lined up the sheriff to put their stuff on the curb in a few days..beware of them. I had the worst two move-in now people from my craigslist ads. It's better in other areas from what I've heard.

Lastly, and equally important:
you are best being known as the property manager NOT the landlord / owner. I made this mistake early on (telling people I was the owner) and will forever feel the pain from it. There's too many reasons to use this approach. I have not found a single successful landlord that disagrees with taking the position of "manager" over the "owner."