I have had a rental open since November of 2020. Advertise on Zillow and Craig's list. Even bought the camera and did the 360 on Zillow. When people respond by email I then send them a pre qualify questionnaire before we schedule a viewing of the property. This idea came from Mr Landlord.com several year ago. Here lately very few will fill out the pre viewing request. Here is the question:

Should I just let anybody that wants to see it come? Or do many of you pre qualify before showing a unit. And if so how?

I like the pre qualify especially during Covid to limit exposure but now have my first Covid shot and a rental that is now 4 months unrented.

Thanks for the groups suggestions.

My purpose in pre-screening is to weed out the obviously unqualified, but it is also to find people who are cooperative. "Cooperation" is near the top of my list of potential renter characteristics.

How do I screen for cooperation? Easy, "Fill out this pre-screening form." IF they don't do it, they are not very cooperative, are they? Easy cheesy!

I check for 5 key things:

1) Verifiable household income

2) Full name (first, middle, last), so I can run a free background check for evictions/felonies.

3) How soon are they moving? (3 months out ain't gonna happen)

4) Reason for moving? (trash talking their current LL is a no-go)

5) Have they ever been evicted and failed to pay the judgment? Also an automatic no-go. Relates to #2, but sometimes if it happened in another state I might not find it on my free search.

If they pass muster, I set a time and text them the lock box code about an hour before along with "We'll make sure a key is there ready for your self-guided tour. Maintenance will be by to pick it up after you're done."

Lock box tours save time and hassle. Never had an experience worse than an unflushed toilet. I have saved thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours, and I get rented faster than other properties that can't show right now for whatever reason.

I agree with Sid 100% - you are screening for cooperation as much as anything. Anyone who doesn't want to follow your process now is unlikely to comply with your lease in the future.

Still Learning.

When the renter moved out a knowledgeable friend said it would be more than likely March before it would be rented. He said this was due to how people moved around the country. I have had more than 10 request a month and now it is moving up to about 5 or 6 a week. I did use Zillow recommended rent but have lowered it from 1650 to 1525. 1525 was what I was getting from previous renter but time of year and covid may be the leading factor.

I am also concerned since the bombing in Nashville this town may have cooled off some.

There's something else not right. We've been seeing people here filling house's that aren't even empty yet.

We require ride by and walk around outside. We advise that flyer is in window with all they need description wise.

Gotta ride by and check the neighborhood out. Then down load the app from on line -- call and we'll make an appt. we use color flyers and ask what color the ad was in the window-- so we know they actually did ride.

In the mean time we need the spelling of all those over the age of 18. That's when we do our prelim.

I'm right there with you with one of my properties. Vacant since mid december. Could be because it is a townhome but I have over 100 inquiries between zillow, zumper and apartments. Shown it to 20 people. Rejected 3 applications and working on 2 more. Lots of looky lous and people who say they will send in an application. So starting in February I dropped the price by $100 and required them to fill out a prescreening questionaire on my web site. This cut down on the dreamers. I think 1 of the 2 apps I have will qualify.

That you are receiving lots of low quality inquiries is to be expected.

Your friend has a good point...March is the earliest I've been able to rent a vacant place. Not only due to many not wanting to move during winter, but also the selection of quality tenants is not there.

What you don't want to do is waste your time. I've done alot of that and have learned here how to minimize that.

A good LL here tried something, that worked well for him, you might try. He used Zillow to show what the market rent was, he lowered his rent and advertised the market rent and what his rent was. This year I've used that tactic on my renewals, stating "Did you know your rent is $xxx.xx below the average rent for this area?"

I showed to a couple today that could afford the house and wanted it. The only problem is their credit score was at 600. They had just payed off all their debts and were hoping that their score would go up soon.

What kind of scores do you guys use for in or out.