Is There A Best Way To Screen Tenants?
Many first time visitors here are looking for the best way to screen tenants. The problem is, there is no single best way.
It really requires a multitude of strategies to ensure you’re screening as well as possible.
There is no single question you can ask, a certain number they need to have for a credit score or a the ultimate reference. It’s a combination of all of these plus a bit of your gut.
The real challenge that comes with this is that it’s also a matter of consistency.
If you have a multitude of requirements and a broad range of questions, hoops and steps that take you from a vacant property to a fully rented property it becomes incredibly important to create a process.
A process you can repeat to ensure you’re using the best way to screen tenants possible rather than a haphazard approach where you could miss steps.
How I Can Help You Screen Tenants
Fortunately I can help a little in that department, or a lot depending on your needs.
At the very least I’d suggest you grab my list of 7 interview questions you need to ask prospective tenants. That will help you a little by providing several basic questions that you can consistently ask tenants during the phone interview stage of your vacancy.
By asking these questions before you even show your vacant unit you’ll save yourself an excessive amount of potentially wasted time by weeding out tenants who will never qualify for your property. Or who are simply testing the waters and aren’t even serious.
On top of that by creating a systematic process that you repeat over and over as a best way to screen tenants for your landlord business, you’ll be able to protect yourself from potential discrimination complaints.
Would You Like A System For Screening Tenants?
Of course the 7 Questions are just the beginning. They make up just one of the 7 steps required to properly screen a tenant.
These steps include
- screening with a good rental advertisement
- screening with an initial phone interview (using the 7 questions)
- screening with an in person interview at the property
- using a solid application form
- calling of work references
- calling of landlord references
- and finally a credit/criminal check
Then capping all of this off with how you feel about the tenant. After all if you’re in the business of creating good solid homes for tenants long term you do want to rent to someone you like don’t you?
I feel using these steps are the best way to screen tenants and to screen them consistently so that you get the best possible people for your property.
You’re more than welcome to build your own system using this set of steps and off of my original 7 questions.
What If I Built You The System?
Now many astute landlords will look at that information and realize it could take many many hours to create their own system. And it would be a lot of work.
Wouldn’t it be far easier to have it already done for me? In a format where I could download the steps, maybe learn the best way to write my ads so they can do soem screening for me?
Maybe even providing additional best practices and questions to ask references and former landlords?
How about if it also showed you where and how to get credit checks and criminal checks and then even told you how to read them?
How much time would that save you and how much easier would it make your life?
Well tada, I’ve done this for you!
It’s part of my How To Screen Tenants Like An Educated Landlord Course and I feel the information it contains should be mandatory for landlords to know.
It’s based on the actual systems and processes I’ve used over my career as a successful landlord and includes the best way to screen tenants that I know of.
The art of screening tenants is one of the important skills a landlord can possibly have. Choosing the wrong tenant can range from being a minor headache to costing you months of lost rent and excessive legal fees in order to evict a bad tenant.
With the average eviction costing a landlord over $3,000 in lost rent, lost time and vacancies this $47 investment saves you money the first time you use it.
How To Purchase The Educated Landlord Screening Course
If you’re interested in the course so you too can avoid choosing the wrong tenants or simply tenants who will be a poor fit for your property you can purchase this online training through the following link.
How To Screen Tenants Like an Educated Landlord
If you’re still not convinced you need this course, let me ask you a few questions.
What would learning how to write an ad that fills your property faster saving you extended vacancies be worth to you? With average rents around $1,000 one month of additional vacancy costs you at least $1,000 not including any utilities you cover out of pocket along with other costs. That’s why I include ad writing as part 1 of the course.
How much does your time cost if you go to show your vacant unit to someone who will never take it? With an average showing taking 30 minutes to show the property plus driving time every “wasted showing” costs you an hour of time. What’s your hour worth? What if this happens three or four times or even more? That’s why lesson two goes into detail about the 7 Questions and how you can use them to avoid showing the property to time wasters saving you multiple hours of your precious time.
Do you know the most common scam tenants use to get good references handed out? I do, which is why in lesson four I explain what to do to avoid those scams, how to verify their information and why their current landlord may be the worst reference possible! Knowing this can help you avoid soem of the worst possible tenants, the professional tenants who use their knowledge of the systems and laws to get into your property for months at a time without having to pay any rent.
What do you do if you can’t find a qualified tenant? The wrong answer is to settle and the second wrong answer is to tell the applicants who didn’t qualify that they aren’t qualified! In section five I break down what to do if you don’t find qualified tenants and how to let the unsuccessful applicants down easy and so they don’t come after you for discrimination charges which is extremely important!
Finally, do you know where to get credit or criminal checks done and how to read them? Many landlords don’t know where to start with this and then even if they do they have no idea how to read or understand the reports once they get them. I explain a couple places to get credit checks done along with explaining what to look for and how to read them.
If you’d like to learn all the right steps to screen tenants along with what to watch out for to avoid the wrong tenants you’ll want to sign up today and get educated.
Again here’s that link, How To Screen Tenants Like an Educated Landlord
Remember, it’s all online with multiple downloads you even if you’re fully rented right now you can sign up, take the course at your own pace and be ready and primed for your next vacancy. You’ll even have all the skills to pre-write your ad for your next vacancy!
Know other landlords who have recently had problem tenants? Forward this article to them so they can avoid future problems!
