when someone inquires about our rental we send the following. While I want to believe that it really is screening out the "we don't wants" I am getting a bit discouraged. Please let me know whatcha think. - TIA

Hi there & thank you for your interest.

Before any showings are scheduled we ask that you answer these pre application questions.

Please do not leave anything blank as that will just delay the process.

What is the address of where you live now?

Are you currently renting? If so, what is the monthly rent?

Why are you moving?

How many people will be living with you?

What kind of reference will your current landlord give you?

What kind of reference will your previous landlords give you?

What kind of work do you do?

What is the name of your employer?

What types of pets do you have?*

How many people who will be living in this unit are smokers?

We run credit and criminal background checks on every lease applicant over the age of 18. Will there be any issues there?

We require a lease application and a 40.00 fee per tenant to cover the background and credit check for each tenant over 18. Is there any problem with that?

When do you want to move in?

Will you have the first month’s rent and security deposit ready if we sign a lease?

The Security Deposit + First months rent totals $5,375.00

There may be deposits needed for the utilities, such as gas electric & water

Do you have a problem with any of these requirements?

******************************************************************

*

Thanks for wading thru and any input

Hi Frank,.

The only thing that stood out is that it seemed like you asked, "Do you have a problem?" almost as if saying "is this okay with you?". Maybe it's me, but it either sounds confrontational or lenient.

The ones who have a problem won't reply or will not answer what questions they have a problem. Didnt answer some questions?-buh-bye.

I might put the rental $$ info at the top of the pre-apps, not at the bottom.

Not sure Id ask what kind of reference their LL would give. I say "may I speak to your LLs?"

Any eviction or criminal history? If so,explain.

How long have you been at your job?

Monthly gross income?

How long have you been at your current residence?

Full names of all adults-(middle and maiden)

Curious...How much is rent and how much is deposit?

And if in doubt,the shorter the questionnaire the better. It should be able to be completed in about two minutes or so. It's a pre-app.

Our pre-app is to ensure our safety and help prospects self-select before showing. The real app comes after the showing.

Good luck!:)

"The Security Deposit + First months rent totals $5,375.00"

My gracious. :) If I had a tenant pool who could pay that without flinching, I wouldn't care if they smoked cigars while they played with their pet chimpanzee. :) That's awesome that you're able to work in that kind of a pond. :) (Comparison: 10 years ago, average *household* income in our town was under $30k/year.)

So, that being said, what strata of the tenant pool are you talking to? If you're dealing with the relatively affluent, upper-middle-class people who are used to nice things and paying to get what they want, do you think you're talking to them in the way they're accustomed to being handled?

A lot of those points are certainly important. But if you're treating a high-calibre prospect in the same way that you treat a part-time-burger-flipper, you're probably not going to establish yourself as a high-calibre ll who's used to dealing with people of their quality. And they're likely to move on to people who know how to handle them. ;)

I know it is time consuming, but I prefer to do this pre-screening over the phone. In my opinion, you get a better picture of the applicant when you have a conversation and ask open ended questions. You can get the same information, but it does not seem so onerous.

I start the conversation with a little marketing talk I have prepared. I talk about the apartment and tell them that move-in monies will total $X,XXX and we require a monthly income of $X,XXX. Since we are going to verify applicant's income anyway, I do not see the point in hiding this information. I let them know our pet policy and about the app fee and process. Many people will decide then that they are not interested in the apartment, which is fine. I wish them well on their search for a place.

If they are interested and want to see the apartment, we schedule a showing where they bring their documentation, complete the paperwork, and pay the app fee. We then run credit and do our verification. If the pass screening, we schedule a second visit to the apartment where we collect the SD and first month's rent, and sign the rental agreement. So far, we have had good success with this process.

We only have six units, so this personal level of service may not be possible for some of you with lots of units but no leasing agents.

In ontario the first and last months rent could easily exceed $5000. But if I presented that questionaire to prospective tenants before they have even seen the property I am fairly certain even most good prospects would feel it too intrusive and demanding.

While those are good questions to ask, I think the applicants would be more motivated to answer them once they had seen the property and decided they wanted it and felt a connection to it.

I typically only ask a few questions before setting up a showing. Ie...when do you want to move in, how many is it for, do you have any pets, how long are you planning to stay?

I am vary of asking too many questions prior to a showing as it may be seen as discrimination if I then discourage a showing. Even if it is to the tenants benefit they not come for a viewing.

During the actual showing I find the applicant often tells information freely without me sounding too demanding.

Instead of planting a sign in the property's lawn and receive a phone calls from very riff-raft that happens to pass by, I strategically place an add to attract the applicants I want!

Then when they call I plant the seeds in their minds my property is the kind of place they'd like to live. Not start out with a bunch of questions.

But during the conversation I do ask/tell them a few things that they will need to know, such as occupancy limits, move in cost/income, FICO scores and pet rules.

Another vote for too many questions... key in on deal breakers only.

I ask 5 "questions."

1) When are you looking to move?

2) How many people will be living in the house?

3) What will your current and past land lords say when we contact them for a reference?

4) We require a minimum household income of 3x the monthly rent. Any concerns with that?

5) Tell me about your pets.

I think it is a little long also.

This is my email reply:

Hi,

Thank you for your interest in 1234 SW Street and I would love to show the property to you. But first I have a few pre-screening questions.

When are you looking to move?

Why are you looking for a new place?

How many people will be living with you?

What type of pets do you have?

What is the household monthly income and where do you work?

And when would be a good time to show it to you?

Thanks

These are also the same questions I ask when phone or text pre-screening people

Think of it from the tenant's viewpoint. They ALSO have a screening process, so THEY don't waste their time on filling out applications for a house that they don't want. I imagine a mental response like this: "I'm a busy person. Why would I spend ten minutes filling out your form when I don't even know whether I want your house?"

I also use the CL email relay system. I do everything by email until I have an approved showing. It has simplified my life tremendously. It has also saved me a ton of time in showings.

I ask about half as many questions, but I also ask for their credit score. I believe I have improved the quality of my tenants since I started asking for credit scores. And I don't have to waste time on deadbeats with 400-type scores.

I strongly disagree with the people on this site who say credit scores don't mean anything. Of course, I look at other things as well, but a credit score tells me a lot about what type of person I am dealing with.

Thanks again. Am just sitting down to re-configure the script.

Right after I signed out here last night I got a real bit from 2 people who actually replied to all the questions.

Talk about timing!

Shoed to one of them today and the other is supposedly getting back to this before dark.

In the meantime I am doing as suggested and cutting the list waaay down. As to the credit score question I do not see the point of that as some of the aggregate site have hat as a question and the self reporting does not mean squat.

The big thing for me is not wasting time with the unqualified, but I certainly understand the off putting nature of my original script.

I would not have asked here if I had not felt kinda uncomfortable.

Again my thanks.

I'll post some follow-ups.

Frank, by getting their credit score up front you cut out a lot of time wasters. I give them a link to Credit Karma so they can't say they don't know their score.

I have not had a problem with people lying about their score in the initial screening.

What do mean by this: "aggregate site"?

OK, I am shaving it down.

One thing is that I already have MOST of the info needed in the listings that we put out, not to mention our video.

after The last time vacant [3 years ago] we had tons of calls and wasted a lot of time with showings even after asking the questions, again in listing and on the phone.

The ads are weak on income amounts and again, Zillow and the rest allow for self reporting, so that does not help.

Well that's enough for now and again I thanks all who took the time and attention to offer their input.

This place has helped me to do a better job and to be aware of the minefields that we all encounter from time to time.

Nooo...way too much info too soon, from people who haven't even spoken to you.

I always want to speak with them first. That tells you a LOT. You can ask several of those questions conversationally on the phone. You bombard strangers like an interrogation and they will just move on. I know I would. I'm very private (and have all fantastic info by the time I get to permitting someone to review it).

As usual, what SID said (these have been my questions for many years, or some variation thereof):

1) When are you looking to move?

2) How many people will be living in the house?

3) What will your current and past land lords say when we contact them for a reference?

4) We require a minimum household income of 3x the monthly rent. Will you meet that criterion?

When someone wants to see a place, I tell them 3 things:

1. No pets

2. No smoking

3. There's a credit check and you need good credit.