The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”Theodore Roosevelt

How thorough is your screening process.

The new mortgage on the new $340k duplex home which is an FHA loan is going to be a monthly payment of $2800 and we will refi ASAP (the current rate is 6.7%) when rates go down.We have done some nice improvements on the SFR and will be refinishing the wood floors before a renter moves in (July 1) so feeling like it's a great opportunity for the right long term renter and we plan to screen prospective tenants well.We are taking a $20k HELOC on the SFR for the downpayment and plan to pay that off within 12-18 months.

Perform the same task in each app to ensure a fair comparison.Load a property with pictures and details.Market that property.See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.Run a credit/screening report on yourself.Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, and attach a fake invoice.Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.Sign documents electronically.Run owner reports.After testing a few apps, one should clearly stand out.

So, we're very familiar with the S8 program and tenants, and how to properly screen them to avoid the worst ones.PM us if you have additional questions:)

Given California's tenant-friendly laws, you'd probably be better off hiring a PMC to help you find & screen roommates. 

Buy right and have written screening criteria.  75% of landlording effectively is tenant selection.

So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean?

You can then have them re-apply to screen them through whatever your preferred method, which we do as well but we cover that 2nd application fee. 

BP, I've been on a long search for technology and applications that allow me to automate parts of the tenant journey (leads, apt tours, screening, rent collection...).