The most amount of people you have had apply to a rental?

[Cameron Riley]

Hi investors. Please answer this in an itemized way to better help flow of conversations!

- What is the most amount of people you have had try to apply to your rental listing? 

- How much do you charge for the application fee?

- Should I give a general time and let people show up and apply if they wish? Example: " Hi, stop by between 1-4pm on sunday and you can apply " 

- ( My recent received 5k views and 400 messages... 150 people attempting to come to a showing)

[Jennifer L.]

Hey there,

I don't charge for applications. I have had good luck recently listing on Zillow, which does charge for applications, but I think allows tenants to apply to multiple units for the same fee.  As a result, you willa get some applications.

When I use Zillow, I do not allow people to apply without reaching out to me first.  You can ask them a couple of questions like "when are you looking to move?" and or "minimum credit is 650 and income to rent ratio is 3" if you think this sounds like you, let me know and I'll forward you a link to apply. The reason I recommend this is that it is so easy to apply with a push of a button and you don't want to waste your time.

With 150 potential applicants, your price point may be a bit low.  My recent rental had about 40 people reaching out with about 10 applicants. Even that amount was labor intensive.

With COVID, I would limit viewings to people who have applied and are pre-screened to qualify. You don't need 150 showing up.  If you do 5-6 showings an hour, you can show it to 20-24 people, and should find a suitable tenant.

Good luck!

[John Teachout]

4 is the most applications we've ever received. We usually process them as they come in and first qualified gets offered a contract. Upon expressing interest, we email them a tenant profile and that eliminates about 95% of the inquiries. We don't charge for an application but once we review it and feel they'll qualify, we submit them for the background/screening check which they pay for directly. (about $35.00)

[Jim K.]

My experience has been much the same as John's when I openly advertise a listing. Usually, we fill vacancies off a waiting list of referrals. I really prefer that to going through the advertising process.