You process the whole application, I drive by to see if uncle Eddie has his motor home setup like the Xmas vacation movie, then just drop in for them to fill in something I thought was filled in before, once you see inside you know what your place will look like in 3 weeks.

6,

The ones who don’t pass...they know...they don’t call and ask.

What’s wrong with a guy staying with his boss?

...long term hotels and residence style inns are popular with contract workers.

My caution about the applicant living in a motel with his boss:

I occasionally get applicants, mostly construction workers, who will claim that their best buddy is their boss for their work reference. If this is construction or some sort of contract work that isn't for a big established company, this can require some extra work to verify the income of the applicant.

Its one of the spots on the application where applicants lie. If they work for a local company and claim their buddy is their boss, that is easy to verify. But its not so easy in construction type employment or any sort of subcontractor job.

6x6,

Wow, I was asleep at the wheel or something to miss all this until this morning... ;-)

I suggest you reverse your thinking and it will answer almost all of your questions. I am not trying to DIS-qualify them; they are trying to QUALIFY with me. That puts the burden on them to meet my requirement vs. me assuming they're good to go and then trying to find a reason or excuse.

Honestly, I can "DQ" anyone for any reason, so long as it does go against the protected classes of Federal Fair Housing and any pertinent state laws. You're shoes are red? I don't like red shoes. DQ!

Now that's a stupid reason and obviously I'd never do it, but if you think in those terms, it helps.

One of my requirements is stable rental history OR if they lack history completely I can do it with a co-signer if everything else checks out good. College students commonly fit this and parent(s) co-sign. Negative LL refs...nope. There's no fix for that.

So to the in-home screening. That's a requirement. If I can't do it, they don't pass. So how to do it for a long-distance person? Easy. Find a local real estate agency to wherever they live. Offer the guy/gal on floor duty $50 to go check their current place out (i.e. get a form signed). They report back with pictures and notes. It's easy money for them, and there are plenty of starving Realtors looking for something to do.

What if they live at mom and dad's house? I go visit mom and dad's house.

What if they are living in an extended stay motel? They should have told me that on the pre-screening form under "describe your current living arrangements", and we would have stopped right there, saving them and me time and money. These tenants are high risk: I have never had a successful tenancy that started with someone in a long-stay hotel.

Is going to where they currently live intrusive? Maybe to some. I will be as intrusive as necessary to protect my investment.

What do I do if they fail the in home? The same thing I do with all others. Mail a letter/email: "We regret that we cannot approve your application at this time. If you would like more information, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to ABC Rentals....allow 4-6 weeks for a response."

In 14 years of LLing, I've never received a request for why the app was denied. They know. They just didn't think I'd really check.

S i d, I put up a website with my current available properties. I then post them on Facebook, and get hundreds of "Good morning, is this available" messages. So I've set up a copy and paste post giving them the instructions (that were already in the ad), directing them to my website. Very few go ahead and fill out the form for a showing, but some do that are not qualified due to low income. Do you inform them then they are not qualified due to income or what do you then do?

Do you advertise on Facebook? I swear 600 people are hitting that "is this available" button requiring a response. I don't think that many would call on the phone if I posted my phone number. Looking for more guidance..

Vee,

Cleveland already has the Christmas Story House. Now you are proposing a Christmas Vacation House?