For my current vacancy, finding qualified applicants with money to pay the 1st months rent and deposit has been challenging to say the least. (Even applicants who have 4x or 5x income are broke and can't produce the necessary move-in funds ($1,000.00 in this case).

I do have one qualified applicant that told me she has the ability to borrow the above move-in funds and will pay it on Friday.

Does it concern me when a prospective tenant demonstrates that they can not meet their basic expenses for living? Yes it does. Roy, you know that you should pass on this one or you wouldn’t post.

The last pre-screening question I have is:

"If everything checks out with the application, do you have the move in monies available to move in? 1st months rent and security?

If they say no, I don't even show them the house.

Johnny B.

The primary reason I will not reduce someone's security deposit amount is because I refuse to pay (out of my pocket) the high cost here of filing for an eviction. My average security deposit is $500.00 and that is just barely enough to cover the eviction filing cost ($300.00) AND my time ($200.00)in dealing with a possible eviction.

Lana,

I know exactly what you are dealing with. Here, between Thanksgiving and February 1st is the worst time to be looking for a good qualified tenant. There is just not much to choose from.

What is even more pathetic, 'good applicants' begin to show up in February only because that is when the tax refund checks begin to roll in and now all of those formerly broke applicants have money to pay more in costs!

Tenants who have the security deposit are almost always better than those who ask to pay it in increments (I no longer do this).

If it was otherwise an ideal sounding tenant and there wasnt a better one it would make a difference as to where the funds were coming from. Putting it on a credit card, no thank you. Bottoming it from a family member who lived close by, maybe. That at least shows they have a support system.

I'd rather have a single applicant with enough income to qualify on their own who borrowed some move-in funds than a couple where neither could qualify on their own but who qualifies together.

Rule 1: It is better to have a vacant property than to accept someone who doesn't have all of the move in costs, plus 3 to 6 months in reserve.

Rule 2: If you have trouble finding a qualified tenant then expand you advertising methods/restorers, and examine your :

a) price points

b) the quality of your rental/market

If they have a job they've been at for a while yes. They MUST be collectable.

No it doesn't bother me. Because I market before the unit goes empty, people have time to gather the funds before move-in date. That they don't have it 2-3 months out doesn't bother me. I let them make payments on it but all must be paid prior to occupancy.

My units are twice the rent of yours, Roy, so full move-in costs are around $2500. That's a lot for anyone these days at one time, I think.

So I require at least 1/2 the Security as a holding fee (usually around $500) and then the other half in a few weeks or lease is null and void. The first month's rent is due prior to getting the keys.

Works for me.

Whatever you do, DON'T accept only partial security up front and then try to get the rest later. Chop the RENT into 2 (bi-weekly, bi-monthly) or 4 pieces (weekly) if you have to, but never go without a security deposit.

My judge will award unpaid RENT. He will not award an unpaid deposit. Simple as that for me. Maybe your judge is different. Do what works in your area.

I frequently advertise our "Winter move-in special," although it's available all year round. Move-in for ONLY (deposit + 2 weeks rent). That's the base price. Pet fees and rent are extra. It's all about generating buzz and getting leads. I still screen out 20 for every 1 who qualifies, which is typical. Lock box showings help me avoid wasting time. For the folks who refuse to try it...well...c'est la vie.

Risk is relative. If they have good income and stable job history, good current and past land lord references, relatively clean criminal & credit, nothing weird on Facebook, and pass my 2-minute in home inspection I will take a small risk on them.

As a testimony, I've been doing this for about 2.5 years now ever since being convinced to try the bi-weekly payment plan. So far, I have only had to evict 2 residents out of all the ones who have chosen the bi-weekly plan, and one of those eventually evicted stayed for 2 years, which as you know translates into 2 extra month's rent (26 half payments/year = 13 full payments/year). So I've received far more money in extra rents from following the bi-weekly + full deposit move-in strategy, even counting my few losses.

It's all a numbers game. Sometimes it will fail, but if enough succeed you still come out ahead. Vacancy pays nothing. Don't accept crappy tenants (we covered the criteria for good tenants above), but broke tenants are a reality in our Class C market.

I was driving around listening to the radio this weekend: We live in a world where folks finance 4 tires on a car...yes, TIRES! Their ads are playing right now.... "$20 down and you drive off with FOUR NEW TIRES! Easy payments!" Seriously? On a $400 set of tires? I felt tempted to call and ask how much the finance charge are, and if not paid, do they go "repo" the tires? Wouldn't that be interesting? Go out to your car in the morning and it's sitting on the rims....

Very important point Sid makes about how you record the deposit and rent on the lease, if you are desperate to fill a unit - always report the deposit in full and the rent short, impossible to evict for deposit shortage, however 95 percent of the housing court duty is dealing with unpaid rent...

Not to put him in the spot light, but my friend and mentor Brad 20K frequently allows folks to move in with ONLY a deposit then puts them on payment plans to catch the rent up. He makes me nervous doing this, but I confess I've though about it. Such a plan would only work for the cream of the crop, which would be very few, in Class C.

We've all heard, "Vacancy is better than a bad tenant..." True! But don't be tempted to then make a logical leap that "broke tenant = bad tenant." I was so broke one timee (high school teacher fresh out of college) I had to borrow $500 from my brother so I could make the deposit + 1st month's rent on a place while our house was being built. Our builder owned some townhouses nearby and rented it to us for 4 months. It all worked out. We paid my brother back, always paid rent on time, got our full deposit back less the carpet cleaning fee...and we've been living here for 16 years. Our mortgage will be paid off in late 2018.

Today I'd kick myself for even thinking about making a deal like that, but back in the day I didn't know better. I did have scruples, and had 5 years of good rental history, a job, clean background, etc.

Sticking to your question, (as most drift off)

Yes, it does make a difference.

I could not Qualify, your Applicant.

Again, Screen x3 (effort)

What would you do if you had 14 acres of Land

and a some of the Corn you planted would not grow ?

Is the problem the Area, Soil, Seed, Weather or Farmer ?

For some of our rentals, we still do the "$99 first month rent" special; requiring the full security deposit but just $99 for the first month.

And that's ANY time they move in during the month. I once had some cheapo ask if they moved in on the 15th was the rent that month only $49.50? Didn't matter; I wouldn't have rented to them anyway.

I try to avoid those who "rent" their items from those "Rent a Center" places and get funds from those "Title Loan" stores.

Roy, look at the numbers, not the words.

you want $1000 to move in but they don't have it.

Roy, look at the numbers, not the words.

you want $1000 to move in but they don't have it.

Roy,

No I am not concerned because it's NORMAL.

Fact: in 2017 people don't have money. It's our new economy.

A class C applicant will probably NEVER have $1000 at one time (other than tax refunds). We MUST find a way around that.

PayDayPlan allows me to bring in the $500 deposit (ALWAYS apply the first monies to the SD) and the amount needed to reach their next paycheck, so if they are paid on Friday and we sign on Wed, I only need 2 days of rent ($32) to be "even".

I signed the lease, got the home rented, have $532 in my pocket while other LLs are complaining about nobody has money. (which is true!)

I'll also make an extra $1020 per year on that house, did not have to pay heat, did not lose another $500 month of rent waiting for someone to show up with more cash.

Benefits:

+rented

+$500 rent not lost

+$200 heat not paid by me

+$1020 extra from PayDayPlan

=1720 ahead of my competi...LL friends.

BRAD

Go ahead,

Thanks for all of the great replies here. As I have stated in a another post, I create hoops for my rental applicants to 'jump through' to determine who is really serious about renting from me and who is just a looky-loo. One of the biggest hoops is proving that you have the means to produce the full 1st months rent and deposit prior to move-in.

In the past, I have done $99.00 move-in specials but I would live to regret it. All I was doing was catering to the 'work with me' crowd.