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All Forum Posts by: Jónas Tryggvi Stefánsson

Jónas Tryggvi Stefánsson has started 9 posts and replied 49 times.

Thanks. An extra month or two might be too extreme but a couple of extra weeks should be worth it.

Yeah it appears to be long but anyone who knows these answers should be able to submit within a few minutes.

The way I see it is that I'm going to be asking all of these questions at one point or another anyway. Why not do it right away, filter out those who are not committed (I mean it, these questions only take a few minutes to fill out) and save my time over the phone with something like this that does not scale at all, and really makes a hazzle for the applicants?

I'm not going to be asking all of this over the phone, the idea is to have a Google Form or a website (Google Form for now) that collects these answers. I'd only have to get on the phone or invite the ones that make it through this pre-screening phase. From there I could accept a formal application (which would be very short due to most of the information being in place) and make the reference checks.

What do you think? Thanks BTW for pointing out potential laws that could be involved.

Thanks for asking David. I've not started the process itself but here's the template I'm constructing for the pre-screening questioner and as of now these are the questions I intend to be asking until something changes:

1. Who will live in the unit? Please list names, date of birth (to verify that one is over the age of 18), email and phone number.*

2. When would you like to move in?*

3. For how long would you like to live in the unit?*

4. What pets do you have?*

5. Do you or anyone in your household smoke or vape?*

6. How many evictions have been filed upon everyone in your household?*

7. Can you provide references from past landlords?*

8. If you can not provide references from past landlords, what's the reason?

9. Have you or anyone in your household ever broken a rental agreement/lease?*

10. What's the household's current living situation?*

11. Why are you moving?*

12. Can you provide a criminal record?*

13. Do everyone in your household have a job? If so, where and since when?*

14. Can you provide confirmation of employment if you are employed?*

15. Are there any other sources of income? If so, which ones?*

16. Which felonies have you and everyone in your household committed?*

17. Under which circumstances would you not be able to pay the rent?*

18. Why should we rent to you?*

19. Is there anything else we should know?

* are required questions.

These are the requirements I list before the potential tenant starts to answer the questioner:

  • * Smoking (vaping included) not allowed.
    * Pets not allowed.
    * A criminal record is required and its important that it does not contain serious sentences.
    * It's required that you've never been filed for evicted before.
    * Recommendations from previous landlords is important, if applicable.
    * A stable job/income required.
    * Long term renting preferred.
    * All applicants must be 18 years of age or older.
    * Not recommended for more than one person since the unit is small.

I understand that the questioner may appear long, but it actually only takes a couple of minutes to answer and its purpose is to replace the phone-call and in the long term save my time and the applicant's time. What's your opinion on it?

It should be noted that the laws are pretty weird here in Iceland so we can't ask for salary questions and credit checks are only getting started by tech companies so we're limited to basic internet background checks and checking references.

Does this list seem sufficient for a pre-screen, an overkill or perfect? It sounds like this should weed out most of the bad apples. The idea is to take those who pass through this to a showing and then allow them to make an official application where they'd submit their criminal record and a list of past landlords and confirmation of employment. Calling HR to verify employment might be viable here but there's no way that we're allowed to dig deeper than that here.

Thanks again!

BTW I'm not discriminating due to age. This is simply not a family unit. It's for 1 person due to how small it is.

Thanks for the answers guys. I'm going to take a route that's somewhere in the middle of what you suggest that makes sense for me and my location.

@Bjorn Ahlblad I'm from Iceland. I understand that a lot of what is said here doesn't apply in my country and vise versa but 95% of what I read here is definitely helpful.

I'm deciding the rental amount on a unit that's very unique, meaning I can't compare its rental rate to any others in the area, or elsewhere for that matter.

I've done my research on other kind of units in the area and I've made a fair assessment on the rental amount for this one. I might be overpricing it, however. I don't want to scare away potential solid applicants without giving them a chance to let me know if things are far off with the rental amount.

I've read that one should usually not allow potential tenants to suggest a different rental amount but would it make sense in this case, where my basis is based on speculation rather than solid comparisons?

The idea would be to simply ask if they can pay the listed rental amount and if not then ask which rate they'd accept? I'd rather have 10 applicants with everyone saying that they'd pay slightly less, especially if they're standout applicants, rather than getting 0 responses and I'd have no idea of knowing what's wrong. Or even worse, I'd potentially only get responses from shady characters who don't mind being charged slightly higher.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks Bjorn. 

Do you verify all references before showing the unit? If I understood you correctly then that's the case.

It seems like it's a 3 phased process then. You ask the initial questions, you ask follow-up questions with references and more personal questions, and finally you show the unit to those who pass the 2 phases.

I think I'm personally going to automate the first phase by setting up a Google Form so that I don't have to spend so much time asking questions that could easily be answered online. Those who would pass the first set of questions would receive a second set of questions via email and finally I'd take them to a showing like you're suggesting.

I'm learning how to screen tenants and how the applicant process should take place. I've read the Turners' book on managing properties and I've taken a look at BP's guide to tenant screening.

The guide suggest that a pre screening takes place. From there the most standout applicants are allowed to check out the property for a viewing. Finally, after showing the property and getting to know the potential client through a series of questions the prospect is finally allowed to submit a formal application where a series of important questions are submitted that make or break the applicant after the information has been used to verify minimal standards and background checks.

To me this seems to be highly inefficient. Is there a specific reason why one should not have the prospect submit the application right away, including all the questions and then determine the best applicants to show the property? How is your process? 

It doesn't seem very efficient to pre screen a lot of tenants and take them to a viewing when one could have known on beforehand they the potential tenant would never qualify, just by asking the make or break questions right away.

A pro I can see to asking all questions upfront is that lazy people or people who realise they would never qualify don't bother applying. I might get away from wasting my time and prospects time when viewing who never had a chance in the first place

A con I can see however is that I'd waste 5 minutes from a lot of people. Some people might feel uncomfortable giving too much information away without having met the landlord or manager.

I'd like to optimise the process as possible for the manager and the potential tenants. Can you please help me understand why its not proposed like this? Thanks! 

P.s. One reason I've seen is that a manager would be wasting his time processing an application of someone who doesn't stand a chance to pass the pre screen but I'd argue that one could just stop processing the application at any time. Right? 

Thanks for the responses.

In my area the rental price for each square(foot/meter) is significantly higher for shared bedrooms than for studio apartments and single/double room apartments. 

If I were just to look at the size and price it based as a studio apartment it would be less than a shared bedroom with nothing in it.

Rooms of this kind are significantly rare in this area as I can't seem to find them. Sure I'll dig deeper, but surely there must be other ways.

Maybe I'm missing a very obvious solution, to see the price difference in different countries than mine (very small) and look at the price percentage difference.

I'm going to be managing a rental in a high demand area. It's a small bedroom and under normal circumstances such bedrooms are charged as if the tenant would be sharing a bathroom and a kitchen with other tenants also sharing a room, while also using a shared entrance. 

Assuming it would be the case here, the price for my room based on the location and size would be between $722 and $920, with the average being $845. Let's assume the base for mine is in the middle or closer to the upper scale since the condition is good and the location is top notch.

In this case, however, the bedroom is actually a mini studio since it has a special entrance that other tenants would not use. 

On top of that the bedroom has a small private bathroom (shower, toilet, sink, excellent cabinet with a mirror), with a slide door separating it from the room.

Finally the bedroom has a built in kitchen, including a stove, a fan, microwave, refrigerator, freezer and cabinets and drawers with plenty of space to prepare food.

The room still has space for a large TV and a coach or a desk or a table or whatever the tenant desires to place there. It also has a very nice window. Sure, the place is a bit crowded but it's well structured.

I can't seem to find a straightforward answer to my question which is:

How much more can I reasonably charge based on these extra features that other bedrooms in the area do not have that I have to figure out the local prices? I.e. private bathroom, private kitchen area (small within the bedroom though) and a private entrance.

I understand that It comes down to supply and demand but hopefully you can give me an idea of in which direction I can go when pricing the bedroom / mini studio.

I asked a similar question recently that only addressed a private bathroom and while it helped somewhat I'm a bit stuck here.

Thanks in advance!