No Response On Zillow!

[John Woodhouse]

Hello,

I am trying to fill a vacancy. This is my second year with this property and both years I used Zillow to advertise it. I’m curious if you guys think this is a good customer dialogue to go with. 

Generally on Zillow, the first question, the customer would ask is “is this property available for a showing at this time?” After that I just cut and paste from my notes this response: 

Hello, before we continue do you meet these requirements?

1. Combined gross income for all tenants must be greater than $4000 (I will require three paystubs for verification)

2. Security deposit equal to one month of rent.

3. No animals.

4. Good renting references for past three years of renting history.

5. No felonies

6. No smoking

7. Must have $2,700 at time of lease signing for first months rent and deposit.

If you do, please send in an application through Zillow (one application per adult). If your application comes back clear, then we can schedule a showing of the property and sign a lease.

I’ve only gotten about 1 out of 10 queries to respond after I send that. Is that okay? Am I doing something wrong? I figured the reason they don’t respond is because they don’t meet the requirements.

Please let me know how you do it.

Thanks! 

[Erin Church]

I have them fill out a prescreening form. I have about 20% of folks fill it out. Here's an example of the email I send (and the link to the form I use). 

Hello <Name>,

Thank you for your interest in the property on <street name>! Our first step in the process is to have all potential renters fill out a free, prescreening Google form. It does not ask for any sensitive info (no birthdays, socials, etc).

Here is the link:
https://forms.gle/nU7JGMdXUqstAac86

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks!
Erin