All Forum Posts by: Jason Krawitz

Well. I asked her if she'd be willing to sit down over a cup of coffee to discuss her concerns. Her reply was that she just isn't sure she'd be able to keep the property as clean as I expect and doesn't want to be help responsible. She said my lease was like a "boiler-plate" apartment complex lease and didn't like the specific restrictions in it. I asked her if I should consider her application cancelled and she said yes. I was emotionally convinced I had the house leased and eager to move into the next phase of this journey so the initial let-down was more dramatic than reality. It's all good. I really appreciate all of the encouraging words from all of you. As a newbie with very few folks around me physically that venture into this, you are keeping my optimism high while temporing my enthusiasm with healthy doses of logical reality. Thank You! Merry Christmas to all of you. I'm sure I'll be back the next curveball that is thrown my way.

Thanks Ben - This made me laugh.

Thanks to all of you for the feedback! Your input is appreciated and valued.

I approved my applicant that has a dog. Her credit was awesome. All prior landlords spoke highly of her. Her employer's HR dept verified everything I needed. I was getting pumped up about leasing my first property! Then... she asked to see a copy of the lease. I e-mailed her a copy. Here's the thing, I got my lease from a friend that has been doing this a REALLY long time and manages 170 + properties. The lease was written by his attorney. My applicant said in an e-mail to me "I will need to withdraw my application to lease the house based on the tone of the rental agreement.".

CRAP! How should I proceed? Frankly, I'd be okay using a lease from one of her last two rentals. I think my buddy rents more lower-end properties and lower-end tenants so his lease is more landlord friendly. There is a bunch of stuff in it I'd be fine changing or omitting.

Ever run into this? Any suggestions on how to real this applicant back in without appearing desperate?

Thanks...

Good evening! After declining my last applicant due to a bankruptcy 4 years ago, being 2 months behind on a car she just purchased in June, and wanting to rent my home sight-unseen on an extended lease, I had another applicant today. This one fully qualifies financially, is very responsible and professional, is middle-aged and makes 8k per month gross, and has glowing reviews from prior landlords. The only problem is that she has a DOG and I have advertised as no pets.

 I've had 12 inquiries on my property since listing it 1 month ago (we moved out 2 weeks ago). I've shown it to 3 of them. 2 of the 3 I've shown it to chose another property. 1 of them because my house was too small and they have 3 kids. The other because my kitchen is too small for them. I declined the 3rd.  The other 9 all have pets and want me to make an exception. Until now, I've not even considered pets. However, I decided to test the waters. This applicant loves my home and let me visit her current residence where she and her dog have lived for a year. She didn't know I was going to ask and we drove straight from my property to her house. She didn't have advance notice to make it look better than usual. Her house doesn't smell weird, was pretty clean (not as clean as my personal residence but my wife if Monk-like), and her dog is cool. It's a black lab about 50 pounds. I called her current landlord on my way home and he gave glowing reviews. Said she always pays early and wishes she wasn't moving out.

Here is my question. My property has oak hardwood floors in the front half and carpet in the back half. How much additional wear would you expect? I noticed in the applicants current residence that the hardwood floors are scratched up a bit. What else should I factor in as I decide whether to accept this applicant?

Thanks for the reply Guy. Would a photo ID potentially expose me to discrimination accusations if I choose to not rent to her andher photo shows she is a minority etc?

Thanks for the replies. I will stipulate that we must meet in person before agreeing to enter a lease agreement.

Good afternoon! It's been a couple weeks since I've posted. My rental property is now cleaned up and I've had 2 showings with another set for tomorrow. Today, however, I received a call from someone in Texas that sounds too good to be true. She wants to submit an app sight-unseen. She told me I will find she filed bankruptcy 4 years ago due to her son's medical bills and "the economy" but she has been in the same rental property in texas for 4 years and is "a great" tennant.

I e-mailed her an application. If she wants to lease the place and I've never met her, how would you proceed? How do I know if the background and credit checks I'm going to run are actually for the right person? Do any of you have experience leasing to folks you've never met?

Thank you again. I obtained a rock-solid state specific lease from a local management company. Had my first showing today and handed out the generic application printed from BP. Is there anything you'd ask for on an application that isn't included on the BP free app download?

Well. Many of you have been helpful (THANK YOU!) to me already so I'm going to continue to share my experience. This is my 4th or 5th post since I've begun this process. On Friday, I listed my first property for rent on Craigslist and Postlets. Today I received my first call from a prospective tenant. After pre-screening over the phone and asking the tenant to drive by the property, which she quickly told me she already had, I showed her the property this evening. My family still lives in the home so it was fully furnished but clean and depersonalized as much as possible. I fessed up during the showing that I was the owner. It's going to be difficult for me to "act" like I'm not the owner.

The prospective tenant brought one child with her, told me that she, her husband, and their 3 kids were interested. I let her walk through the property. She asked to see the back yard so I walked out with her. She asked about a move-in date and we discussed my desire for a 15 month lease so the lease isn't expiring during the holidays each year. I tried to make small-talk but honestly, I was a little nervous and I think that she could sense that. I've never leased apartments or anything for that matter. She asked how the neighbors are and asked how much storage was in the attic and whether the shed in the back yard was included. She was in and out in about 10 minutes or less. I managed to give her two applications and asked her if she had any more questions. She said she would talk to her husband and get back with me.

Here's the thing. I have no gut feeling about whether she has intentions of calling me back or if she didn't like the place at all. Do those of you that have shown properties before have any input to offer on whether you were able to predict whether a person was going to apply or not after looking at your property? Do you send follow up communication after showing the property? Should I just let her ride off into the sunset and wait for the phone to ring again? How do you suggest acting like I'm just the property manager when showing the home before we've moved out? Especially since there are photos of my ugly face in spots around the home? Here is my postlets ad link if you want to offer any feedback.

https://postlets.com/posts/12683938/review

I know this is a really long post but I have wanted to do this for a really long time so I'm excited and want to do this correctly. To be honest, I listed the property at a premium price while we're still living here to make it worth our time and hassle if someone wants to push us out quickly. Any nuggets of wisdom are greatly appreciated!