All Forum Posts by: Joseph Weisenbloom

Congrats this sounds very similar to my story I just turned 24 and got my first duplex soon after.Get ready for the next fun step of selecting tenants. I am in the process of signing a tenant for my property right now. I had to deal with a whole lot of crazy people before I found someone that was suitable. Brandon is a big inspiration to me but it almost makes me jealous that I didn't start earlier!

If you are interested in networking with fellow Dallas investors I would suggest you get linked up with @Alexander Bustos and @Kathy Armstrong they organize the local BP meetup. If I am not mistaken we have a meetup this Thursday at 7.

@Bill S. Good advice! I have stopped taking applications and received a 4th one today. I think I have made my decision on who I am going to choose. The guy I am choosing isn't spectacular in any one criteria but he is consistent in all areas. He makes enough money, was courteous, clean, dosen't smoke, and was early to our showing. I just need to run a background/credit check on him and pending that he should be good to go.

Any advice on rejecting applicants so I don't get into trouble? The other 3 applicants were nice folks and met the income criteria but may not be a good choice because they smoke/300 Lbs/have a dirty car/dont have any rental history etc. Im trying to tread lightly on the being obese thing because I am learning that is supposedly a protected class.

@Marcia Maynard Great advice! I am reconsidering my criteria to accepting the guy with a long rent history but makes less money. I have yet to look at these tenants current properties which is something I need to do. I was not aware the obese was a protected class. Wow! I figured if they are in the situation where they cant handle their weight how hare they going to handle my house.

@Jean Bolger I am afraid to ask you about the toilets haha. It looks like these people were in there previous apartment for 5 years so they may be a keeper.

@Nicole A. I have verified the income but have not looked at their current property which is the next step I need to take.

@Ellis San Jose

The one that makes the most money has been with their previous landlord since 9/1/12.

The one that makes the second most amount of money lived in their sisters house prior to applying and dosen't have any tenant experience(that I know of)

The one that makes the least amount of money has been with their landlord since 2007.

Its tough to tell who is the best applicant because the one with the longest time spent at their previous apartment also makes the least amount of money. With that being said they all pass the monthly income 3 times monthly rent requirement

Newbie question here need some help. Over the last two weeks I have shown my rental to 6 different groups of people and have gotten 3 different applicants. I understand the guidelines to screening like having gross monthly income 3 times rent, check their car etc

A lot of the people I have been getting applications from may excel in one criteria but be terrible in another. For example I have one applicant that has income that is vastly exceeding the monthly requirement but their car looked gross, they were 300 lbs, and smoke.

Another applicant barely over the monthly income required and had less than stellar credit. Otherwise they had an immaculately clean car and were more curteous.

I guess my question where do I go for here? Should I hold off for a better tenant? How much weight does each criteria get in your book? I guess theres no such thing as a perfect tenant but where do you draw the line. These people are expecting an answer back so I want to be able to make a decision soon either yay or nay.

@Kimberly T. There is a whole lot of Kim's in this conversation :) Yea I wanted to hedge my risk against no shows by doing a group showing that way if someone dosen't show up its not a total loss.

@Account Closed I am not an agent but I am friends with a few that have hooked me up with that form.

@Colleen F. That sounds like a good idea run the paper application first and give the credit/background check for the best ones. Its sounding like for SmartMove I wouldn't even need to collect the check they would be able to pay when they sign in online? Also I heard to verify the information on their application I need some type of release of information form any experience with that?

@Account Closed Yea I have been trying to closely follow all the advice of the BP forums with this but doing anything for the first time can be hard. Are you talking about the TREC applications? I already have those. Good advice with the car as well.

Bringing a qualifications sheet is a good idea. How do I go about documenting if someone dosen't meet criteria?

Also does anyone know how much it costs to run a person on SmartMove? I want to make sure my application fee is enough.

Whoops misspelled apartment in the title how unprofessional of me. Sorry.

I know most of you seasoned landlords probably despise showings but I have my first one tomorrow and I'm pretty excited. After posting an ad on Postlets I have scheduled 10 people to come see the house. I am doing this in two group showings one tomorrow and one on Saturday.

First question is any general advice for these kinds of things? I have been re-reading the article Brandon Turner wrote on step by step process to rent a house. Any thing I need to say during the showing?

Second question is how do you typically prescreen on the phone? For everyone that has been calling I reiterated that I require "minimum 600 credit score, gross monthly income 3 times the rent, references required, and credit/background check required" I then ask if any of those things are a problem and without hesitation everyone says "no it wont be a problem". There is no way that these people meet all these requirements and tips on how to screen out the unqualified people?

Third question what order does the the process go in? I am thinking that first I show them around the house get a feel of where they are at and then give them the application if they are interested? If they want to apply I would also need to collect a check from them to pay for the SmartMove credit/background check. Do I ask for a check on the spot? What if I get a whole bunch of applicants and its hard to chose which one? Or vice versa I get a bunch of applicants and none of them are good? I would sorta feel bad if someone applied and they lost their application fee because I chose someone else that had a slightly better credit score or something.

Sorry if these questions sound silly or I am over thinking things I just want to be prepared so I can hit the ground running tomorow!