All Forum Posts by: David M.

With 37 units, you don't have digital software like Buildium that can be set to automatically email a receipt?

 I'm interested in this thread as well. My issue with automatic screening services is that most of our properties are in lower-income areas where standard criteria would struggle to get us qualified applicants. We need to be able to tailor the weight of different arrives for this particular situation.

I don't see the monthly 8-10% as a good value for the work they do, and I certainly have no interest in signing up for the perverse incentive scheme of rewarding them with a big chunk of money (1 month's rent) when something bad (turnover) happens to my property.

Edit: For what it's worth, I would take issue with your first line. I invest in buy-and-hold properties "on the side," as I have a full time job. However, I consider it to be a part-time job in a business I own, with all the attendant systems and paperwork. I certainly wouldn't say I only "dabble in it," but it's not a full-time job for me, so the opening line of your piece seems to imply we aren't successful. Maybe I'm misreading it.

We need to be careful about the word "afford." I can "afford" to buy a $100 cup of coffee a couple times a month, and my life wouldn't be demonstrably worse. That doesn't mean I see it as a good value. Likewise, be wary of alienating tenants who can "afford" application fees but don't see them as a great exchange of money for just a "possibility" of renting the property.

As a tenant, I would not pay $100+ to apply for three homes, to be honest...and I'm in pretty good financial shape. I'd want to know that the money I paid was going to secure the home if I meet the criteria, not that it *might* secure the home.

I collect applications with a disclaimer that I select the best candidate based on the applications, then collect their app fee before running the checks. If everything on the application is truthful, I accept the tenant, sign a lease, and apply the application fee to their deposit. If anything in the application was misleading, I keep the fee, tell them why they've been denied, and move on to the next applicant.

I think the 3x income rule is a benchmark from the mortgage industry, where you must earn 3-4x monthly mortgage payments to qualify for the loan.

Not sure if that helps, but they was my impression.

 Yes, exactly. I know BP has a flow chart for whether to approve tenants, but in $20,000 SFHs that rent for $650 a month, I'll never rent the property if I have to wait for good credit scores, no evictions, no criminal history, a year at their current employer, etc.

I'd just like to develop somethingmore standard than 3x monthly rent and my impressions based on background and credit checks.

Hello,

Would anyone be willing to share his or her scoring system when evaluating applications? What variables do you consider, how much weight do you put on each variable, etc.?

We have a portfolio of lower-income rentals, which means hard and fast rules that meet serve higher-end property owners well simply don't work as well for us. We have to delve mute into the"grey area" of sometimes...less than stellar financial or criminal pasts.

Does anyone score their applications on a universal system?

I've used it for six months and haven't heard of a price increase. I like the ease of setting up ACH payments through our own branded website, and the accounting isn't too difficult once you get the hang of it. I do wish the mobile app were more functional.