On the market 100 days. 166 prospects. 39 showings. Maybe 15 apps. NO QUALIFED APPLICANTS. Listed below market, will not move. Totally remodeled unit, nothing to improve there.

My screening requirements have been the same for a long time. Basic stuff, no evictions, 3x income, etc.

I honestly think I need to relax my credit requirements a little bit. I look for 650 and up. 600-649, I want double deposit. Nothing below 599. My problem with 600-649 is there's are usually TONS of new collections or not enough income or some civil suit or something. I wouldn't mind some collections, but I don't want a bunch of brand new ones.

It's a deadbeats world.

I hear ya,

although others claim to have 2-3 day turnovers,

I hear ya,

although others claim to have 2-3 day turnovers,

I'm having similar luck. I'm not looking for perfect either. I willingly rent to tenants with low credit score because I know they will be renters for awhile and if I take care of them and they don't lose they ability to pay they're likely to be with me awhile. I'm looking for some basic things:

Don't lie to me on the application

Have a history of paying your housing bills on time

No evictions

3x the rent in monthly income

Good references from current and previous landlords

No recent drug or felony convictions or no pattern of criminal behavior.

Take decent care of the place you live in.

Take good care of your animals if you have them.

If you can do those things I'm likely to rent to you. I don't care if your credit is in the tank because you made a poor decision to buy a $40,000 truck and it got repossessed two years ago or if you have a bunch of outstanding medical bills from a few years ago. Like NE, I don't like to see a bunch of new collections - that's a sign of someone who's having financial trouble.

Thought I had one rented to a couple this past weekend. Between the two of them they had good income, although short time at their jobs. Had a good reference from previous LL's. No red flags. Until I went to meet the two dogs they have. She had them in the yard on leashes when I got there and she still had zero control over them. Could not keep them from jumping on me and one of them I could have sworn was going to bite me. If you're going to have pets, especially large dogs, you need to be able to control them if you want to rent from me.

We don't do 2-3 day turnovers. We take 60 days to find the right person THEN it's a one-day turnover.

With the economy the way it is-- the 650's are buying houses-- 600's too.

We say, when we look at 500's, man they had to work to get it that low.

I'm not the master of rentals here but in my opinion you gotta change that 650 thinking or you'll be stuck another 6 months. I wouldn't know how to act with a 600 applicant-- maybe even lower the deposit?

Same here, honestly I am really just looking for;enough income to truly be able to afford the place, garnishable income and no dangerous animals. Nothing.....

Well I guess I'm a rockstar. Not really but I do I have a waiting list of qualified tenants and always pretty much do turnovers with no down time. It's just my market and maybe time in the business. Don't know where everyone gets my name/number. But when there is a shortage of rentals and you offer a good value there is no shortage of applicants. I've had people move in with family for a month or two just to wait for one of mine. They rent them before even seeing the after pictures. And oh what a sellers market we have as well! Last two I listed I received full asking price in 24 hours after listing.

I'm in the same boat as many here. Dismal prospects. And folks don't read the ads. Many don't appear worried they have a history of evictions; or are confused because they leave before finding themselves sitting on the curb with their belongings (but after the landlord has filed against them) and don't seem to realize that yes, they have been evicted.

Had a couple interested but said they were going to buy their own home in about a year. Ran their screening; not only did both have histories of evictions but both had FICO scores in the 400 range due to collections. Good luck getting a mortgage with that one.

Anyone looking for a better level of tenants?? You have to advertise directly to the work places of the people you WANT as tenants. Make a list of all the large businesses and workplaces where higher educated personnel work, including:

1) Hospitals,clinics,labs; colleges and universities, the Dept of Schools, the local newspapers, large legal offices,etc

2) City and state services&utilities: telephone, water,gas&electric companies, and don't forget the city bus dept if there is one.

3) any Fed govt offices,any branches of the military including the local recruiting office.

4) big businesses(e.g. in San Antonio we have a beer brewery, a cola bottling plant, a Toyota plant,and the large warehouses of our major food store-HEB

=You advertise to the Personnel or Human Resource Depts of the above with very nice colored photo fliers with all your info. Be sure to mention all the major highways N/S/E/W that will help your future tenants drive to WORK.

Targeting the people you WANT as tenants by advertising to their work place is the KEY to getting working tenants, higher salaried tenants, better educated tenants, tenants that make better life decisions, tenants with better rental history and tenants with less criminal activity!

I've had to come up with ways to rent difficult unit in hard times. But I always got my first and deposit, on discounts there. I a tenant pays on time for 11 months, then the 12th month is free. Rarely a tenant can pay 11 months on time. I save the envelope with the post mark for proof.

Sometimes I'll offer extra appliances to get a place rented. Or free basic cable. An extra parking sport. Storage. A shed. A dog run with a doggy door for little to medium non aggressive dogs.

NE,

I'm not Chicken Little but our renters are the canary in the mine, the first to feel a recession.

What I don't understand is there are jobs everywhere in my city. If you can pass a drug test you're hired. They will teach you how to read!

NE,

In my town, when LL's get hard-up for tenants, they go and hang-out at the Section 8 office. And these are LL's who say they would never accept a Sec. 8 tenant too.

I pull credit reports but barely glance at the credit score. I look at how many payments they're making on time vs. late, and debt load. If they pay their bills on time, that's good enough for me.

In Alabama,I think everyone has bad credit.No one interested in a 600 to $750 house ever pays any medical bills. This is the biggest volume of credit hits locally.

Lower the bar.No past evictions,do not consider medical hits.Past landlords are the best source,if they are honest and not glad to see them leaving and talking positive on a bad tenant.