I've decided to move away from texting pre-screening questions and have the applicants complete the pre-screening on line using my FB page. I thought it was going to be a big deal to embed a google form on my FB page but as it turns out, it was simply a matter of sharing the google form to the page. Took five seconds and I pinned the form to the top of the page. There are some apps that I need to investigate that will allow me to set up tabs on the page similar to a website, but I'll sort that later. What I'd like to do is have a separate tab for the pre-screening form and a link to the on line service I use for the application, nationwide criminal and credit checks. Alternatively, I can create another google form for the application, but that would mean capturing ssn on FB and google. I'm not comfortable with the security and exposing the applicant's SSN on the internet.

This will be a work in progress but texting pre-screening questions back and forth has now been eliminated. I'll direct them my FB page with the ad or just text them the link to the form. Couldn't believe how easy this was.

Congrats again! You're moving to a life of less worry and more freedom and profits.

The one problem I had with Google Forms is they run some kind of scan on it, and when I asked for "sensitive" info like birth date and SSN, it deactivated my forms. They'd be "up" for a day...one time it lasted 3 days...then suddenly they'd disappear and I found a message saying I couldn't have a form with that info. So...anyway. Keep an eye on your form. I don't know how they do it, but they have/had some tool that would check all new forms and wouldn't allow me to capture that info.

I use Weebly Basic package to host my domain & site, and for pre-screening I don't ask for any "sensitive" info. I don't really need it at that stage anyway, since all I care about is name (for free online criminal check), income, living situation, reasons for moving, and move-in date. They do not offer encryption unless you upgrade to a much fancier (and more expensive) plan.

The third party site I use masks their SSN so I have to get manually for my files. But if we get to that point, the number of applications I actually take are so few that's not a big deal. Dealing with the application on line also saves time. It usually takes them 15-20 minutes to complete it on site while they're trying to remember the information. It's better if they do that on their own time later. Also, I normally get ID's and income proof in person, but these can be uploaded to me via sharefile or sent via text or fax. To get SSN's easily, I'll just require that they provide a copy of their W-2. Most employers still show the full SSN on the W-2's but increasingly many just show the last four digits.

Thank you for sharing but what if people do not do Facebook.