The tenant pool in my area has gotten considerably worst. I've never encountered like this before. This is why I have to consider the "least worst" when looking at applicants rather than shooting for the ideal. No one is going to hit all criteria and there are many who just won't make it at all. I had one who put in an application who had a previous eviction and claimed it was due to a divorce. Called the prior LL who had "nothing good to say". That was probably a step that I wasted time on but wanted to be fair. Income was shaky as well. I rejected them, Got the following e-mail from her daughter today:

"I was a co-applicant with my mother for one of your properties Apologies for not sending this as an email as I do not have your email address. However, I am concern as to why we didn't get the chance to rent out the property.. Yes yes I do understand it was due to the eviction but you must understand that the eviction was not her fault. In fact it was due to personal reasons which if she so choose to explain I will allow her too. The property that we are at now, we've payed our rent on time with this month being an exception as I was in and out of the hospital which I've contacted my landlord about. Aside from that moment, we have a good relationship with our landlord and the only reason why we are being told we have to find a new place was because of the city and the landlord failing the inspection. I'm sure my mother told you that when she went to the open house last week. Please sir, all I am asking is that you give us a chance to show you that we are good tenants. I've moved a lot as a child and the last thing I want to happen is for my brother to basically repeat history."

Every deadbeat has a story to tell if you let them.

I agree. This is the worst we have seen in 35 years as landlords. Used to be you could advertise a property (and back then, we did not have the avenues we have today!), and would have it filled within a week.

We have had a 2 BR apartment in one of our complexes advertised for 6 weeks. The applications we have gotten have been abysmal. They are looking for a landlord that works on the premise, "if they are breathing and have the move-in funds, they are accepted". We do not work that way.

We realize that COVID has played havoc with employment, and would be willing to work with someone that had had to change jobs recently, IF only they had demonstrated some "stick to it" prior to the pandemic. These people today think you should take them when they change jobs every 3 to 6 months on a regular basis. They think it is normal. I guess we are old fashioned in that way, but to us, it goes to character.

I think covid exacerbated some underlying issues. There are two issues that I think are the problem: 1) Raggedy lifestyles and 2) Patience to see something through. The latter relates to jobs and working IMO. Most don't have a strategic vision for their lives which give one the patience to start at the low end on the totem pole and work one's way up. They want it now and don't want to work for it. There are various and sundry reasons for that but prominent among them is popular media that promotes consumption over thrift and hard work.

The key thing I look for is consistent employment and I understand a temporary disruption due to Covid. In most instances, Covid induced unemployment has not been the issue behind rejections.

I have mentioned it before,if your applicants creditworthiness changes for the worse, change the marketing approach.

Reminder: 5-6 years ago, every LL used Craigslist, then region by region the forum posters here reported that CL only provided applicants who were scammers and homeless. Until it happened in your area, it seemed to only be a problem for those in a different state, but it soon covered the nation and now no here one uses CL Then we shifted to Z, and FB ma rketpl ace. These platform services seem to have useful life that ends.

At the advent of internet marketing we al built websites to advertise, but few use them for advertising purposes now and fewer still post Y out ub e videos as we did 10-12 years ago to improve our search engine optimization.

My hunch is the good quality renters are leasing through leasing agents and property management companies in larger numbers than ever before nowadays.

If this is in fact the case, we need to appear more credible, professional to get a shot at their business.

The alternative is to deal with the pool of desperate, problem tenants moving from one place to another. Hoping that this group will improve enough for a LL to operate profitably is a fools errand.

We have had a number of prospects call through some of our advertising. They all want to tell their life (sob) story, and I really don't want to listen to their sob stories.

I have had a few contact us through the internet, and want us to call them, or want a number to call us. Again, I don't want to listen to a number of sob stories.

GKARL, I like you a lot and have enjoyed many of your past posts. I say this because thise is going to sound like a doosie. That's not my intention. Rather, I want to help you (and others) who have been upset by the state of affairs in the world to refocus and succeed.

Regardless of whether or not the pool is worse, we have businesses to run. This is an investment, not a 18-month-long pity party. I've never heard so much WHINING about "how bad things are" over the past 18 months.

I had my best year ever in 2020, and 2021 is even better so far. I didn't sit still. I made a ton of changes. I cut off stuff (and people) that weren't working and focused on finding the ones that do. That doesn't just mean tenants: it means contractors, business associates, and even old modes / plans of operating.

1) I tweaked and cemented in my 2-minute in home inspection process. Zero eviction so far from anyone I've done this too.

2) I now insist on ACH payments as an applicant qualification. Anyone who fails to qualify for a checking account isn't one I wish to spend time doing business with. Too. Much. Drama.

3) Leases are all e-signature now.

4) Move-ins are being automated. Still working it, but getting very close. Thanks to Kyle and Alison for teaching me on this one.

5) Restarted meet ups with fellow successful land lords. I can't believe how much this re-energizes me.

All that said....are we facing unprecedented challenges? Yes. So what? Successful investors find opportunity where others find excuses.

If anyone believes their local crop of residential renters are getting worse, I humbly suggest redeploying your capital where there are better opportunities.

Options include:

1) Buy higher end units that appeal to well-qualified renters.

2) Buy commercial rentals that are less maintenance intensive and are still at low prices due to shut downs driving many small businesses out of business.

3) Buy mini-storage units so people have somewhere to put all the stuff they spent their stimulus checks on.

4) Get into nightly rentals where the renters are "pre-screened" by the reviews other owners have left and you can get them out quickly if there are any problems.

5) Buy stocks. They've been soaring over the past 18 months. I'm up over 300% on MGM stock alone.

6) Buy an existing "essential" business or if you don't have enough funds to do the whole thing get an ownership stake. Most of us should know several of those now. Things that are virtually pandemic proof and the Govt won't mess with your ability to earn (well, not too much anyway).

Bottom line: if tenants are truly as terrible as some people think, then there is nothing you, I, or anyone else here can do to fix it. As my old 1st sergeant in the Army said, "You can only polish a turd so much; it's still a stinking mess."

We can't stad motionless because "I've always done this (rentals) the same way." Do something different. Take a risk. But don't sit still and expect magic to fix life/renters/politics/the universe. The future belongs to those who seize it firmly in both hands.

All the best!

I have a lot of apartment, mostly owned by myself, some with partners. With partnership properties, we only select those who meet with our minimum criteria. We would rather keep it vacant than give us all "issues".

But the units I own myself, I have found a few things helpful with finding a "body" to fill my vacancy --although not a perfect catch.

At a Mr. Landlord seminar, I picked up on a strategy, this was around 20 years ago. You find someone who's not perfect and just barely fits my wants. Any other normal landlord would have passed because not enough credit history, rental history or job history. But the applicant isn't a bad person, just "getting by". So if I give them my rental, they will be so grateful, they will pay the rent and stay a long time -- too costly to move and they were lucky to get my unit. These is for "C" class areas and also some "B" too.

I filled 32 units in the "hard times" with these types of tenants. FICO around 650. Debt on credit cards, only a couple of thousand and not for a HDTV but to pay car repairs or medical bills. Enough money in the bank come up with all of the move-in costs up front. And they work two jobs. One full time 32 hours a week and a second job with open doors, they can work as much as they need to, they have a needed talent. It could be cooking in a restaurant, cutting garments or working at a family business.

Sid,

I don't take exception to anything you said there. I've done many of the things on the rental end as far as e-signing and automated collections are concerned. I've starting to conclude that the area my rentals are in is the issue. It's improving in a positive way however, that has yet to be reflected in the tenant pool.

To Sisco,

Very interesting point of view. Good insight.

@GKARL that makes sense.

J,

Right now after July 4 nothing is "selling" on Ebay so people are on vacation and spending their money there. Anyone who needs to move but has a job etc and income, is taking last week and this week off for vacation and not thinking about their upcoming move. It's too darn hot. Only people who are being forced out are moving in this weather. That's why they are all bad.

@GKARL

Exactly. They are still unreliable no matter how cheap you make the unit.

"If this huge horde of grossly unqualified people is the new normal it's going to become a societal problem, not just a landlord problem"

Robert we have been doing this for years. With 2 additions. We take lower scores but they must be on the same job for years. 2nd and more important-- may sound cruel -- we let them know they are on the last leg of renting. We emphasize we are there last chance to have a good place-- and not to Screw up!

Third: we have a robust collection company. We don't forgive or forget debt to the Landlord (us). Don't care how long it takes-- don't care if it drives you to BK.

Yes, it's a societal problem with people getting stuck in generational ruts of underachieving, partly due to John Dewey's warped educational goals of producing a dumbed-down compliant workforce. Fathers are often absent, kids spend too much time in age-segregated environments, and the world is going down the tubes. But that's another story.

But maybe this will help somebody find qualified tenants. As of 2020, I've been using NextDoor dot com for marketing available homes, with Facebook as my 2nd choice.

The beauty of posting homes on FB is that you can block anyone who is unqualified from seeing your future postings and from being able to contact you again. And you can check out their social media photos to see if they really don't smoke, if they really don't have cats, and if they show evidence of substance abuse or any other undesirable behavior. But the drawback of FB is that you sometimes have to sort through 150+ inquiries to find qualified prospects.

But I now start with NextDoor, which means I only get a handful of inquiries with a much higher percentage of them being qualified - probably at least 3 or 4 out of 5 would qualify. (I do this about a couple of weeks before I would typically market on FB.) Without many details, I only post that I "manage" rental homes in the area and that we will have something coming up w/ # of bedrooms & bathrooms & the neighborhood, etc. They should PM me if interested.

I can still go search them on social media. But before posting, I check ND to see if anyone is searching for a rental home, and then PM anyone who is looking. If that works, I don't need to make a public post at all.

Reminds me of Nancy from Detroit who posted years ago. If I remember correctly her and her husband worked hard for a lifetime to own rentals to provide for their retirement. Then their area of Detroit went to nothing and they lost most of there properties.

What does your marketing looking like?

Ray,

Can you give one or two specific examples of your very targeted marketing?