Hello All Landlords/PM's, What tenant screening program do you guys use?

It should be easy to sell with seller financing given then current mortgage market. 100-200 a month in monthly cash flow, no landlording, no tenants, no headaches.

Tenants are usually so nervous about calling a landlord and they may come across a little scattered.

Problem is the renter is getting the extra money and not the landlord.The landlord is getting the extra usage and wear and tear and higher water bill.Thoughts.......

I found this article a bit useful.http://www.quora.com/Apartment-Rentals/Why-dont-landlords-accept-credit-card-payments-1They want you to sign up to use it though so I just used one of my alias gmail accounts.

Perhaps they were having their way with the previous landlord and hopefully your actions will set them straight.

As far as putting a lock on the thermostat I think it is a great idea and we have had to do it for landlords before.

The only investment properties I've seen go through were situation where the homeowner became a landlord and there was a legitimate hardship.

The cost is built in somewhere to what they are doing.We get landlords offering free rent here for 1 year.The rent isn't free on commercial as they then have year 2 at a higher than normal rate to recover some of the lost rent and then built in escalations that are higher and more frequent than normal.Never get sucked in by a gimmick.I tell all my clients to be slow and methodical in doing a deal to avoid "knee jerk" reactions.It takes a long time to make money and a small amount of time to lose it.You also have to watch out for if they are in pre-foreclosure or not.They could be trying to collect an upfront payment with free rent and then walk.

Perhaps I have violated a belief that many landlords have in that I have taken an interest in the lives of my tenants and of course this may back fire at times.