With my only vacancy, I have been flooded with applicants from my Zillow Ad. I have 8 applications in front of me now and more are on the way. Last night, I shut-down (paused it) my Zillow Ad to help slow down the tsunami of prospects who seem 'desperate' to rent my little no-frills 2/1 house down in a Class D hood. In all my 16 years as a LL, I never seen anything like this. Is anyone else here experiencing this?

This post here has to do with some new Red Flags that I have seen pop-up in just in the last 24 hours. I have one applicant who claims to make over $100,000 / year and she works at a Toyota dealership. I have not had time to verify this claim yet, but why would anyone who makes over $100K want to rent my house in the hood for $650.00/month? This is one of many 'red flags' I am seeing now but the $100K applicant just blows my mind! She is even sending me Text messages wanting to know when I will make a decision on her application.

Among all of the applicants, there seems to be a 'sense of desperation' among them to rent something right now. In past, I have always avoided renting to desperate people but now it seems they are all desperate for some unknown reason.

Had that last spring. I figure it was because everybody, including tenants and landlords are stressed from the upheaval. The tenant I placed was stressed because they were going on their third place since pandemic started. Two landlords decided to upgrade the house and sell. What tenant didn't know was their 'lawyer friend' was likely selling landlord info on 'distressed landlord' lists. I know this because when we hit a bump in the road, tenant said would discuss with the 'lawyer-friend'. My phone immediately blew up with ' We wanna buy...' calls and texts, and each time tenant mentioned talking to lawyer-friend over the fall. Tenant's family helped tremendously, as they saw tenant needed to settle down.

So, tenants may find themselves moving when they weren't planning on it, AND, rent was always in on time, house kept spotless. My tenant just has a prickly personality, but I can deal with that, I just need to look in mirror to see another prickly personality , lol!, also my tenant smokes, has big dog, which I allow. But, tenant wasn't going to be upfront about smokes or old pup. Was just planning on sneaking those in....as often tenants do....So, in my case, tenant unwittingly caused their own move-out in the past. We'll likely be fine together for years.

So, I say, screen as usual. There may be those who look like unicorns, and it scares ya, but, just stay the course, screen as usual. Some years ago, I had a tenant who looked so good beyond belief for my little house. Everything screened well, she was a great tenant for almost four years. She travelled extensively for her job out of country, but had a child still finishing high school. The apartment they were in had gotten more crime in the area, she needed safer neighborhood. I almost choked, but kept a straight face. My rentals are in a very violent city. Some consider none of the neighborhoods to be safe. This tenant was an excellent tenant, moved out-of-state after youngest went off to college out-of-state. When I was screening this applicant, I kept thinking, ' Why isn't she buying a nice condo in a downtown high rise or something? ' She was just practical, frugal, and was planning for kids' college expenses. Not my typical applicant.

Lisa,

Even the most qualified tenants are desperate here. EVERYONE is selling or converting to AirBnB or Vacation Rentals. Just saw a guy post on a housing group - he is the owner of a local pizza place, been in business for a long time but never bought a house, he's been renting the same one for years...now it's being sold and there is NOTHING out there, NOTHING.

And THIS is the red flag of why you RAISE RENTS! (*grins) I posted two vacancies on Tuesday and my inbox has been flooded with suuuuuuper interested people, most of whom are unqualified tire kickers, but I already have 3 apps in hand for one house and 1 app for the other, all of which look promising as long as their data checks out.

This is the "new normal" I was talking about in Class C rentals earlier this week. Rents are skyrocketing. Prices are climbing. Govt funny money is eroding the value of the dollar. Inventory is not keeping up with demand.

I've looked at several articles from the past 4-5 years, and while estimates vary, somewhere between 1.3 to 1.7 million housing "units" are lost every year. The US Homebuilders Association estimates we need to ADD 7 million units per year just to keep up with current demand, but in 2021 only about 1.5 million were built. There is a sever shortage: we're barely replacing the number of units dropping out of service, and as far as adding more units? Nope.

And as we have noted, the 1.5 million units being built are mostly nicer own-occ places, not rental houses. Sure apartments are being built, but many people want to rent houses. HOUSES are in high demand, as seen by the rising rent rates and cost to buy even our little 2 bedroom houses.

No one is building 2 bedroom houses. No one. Let that sink into your mind. You own a scarce commodity that is only getting scarcer by the year. Each year, how many older 2 bedroom houses are falling down, burning down, flooding, being bulldozed by cities?

This is why our values are finally climbing. For decades, our little houses were the laughing stock of 3-bedroom house investors. No appreciation of value. Stagnant rents. But now the old neighborhoods are home to a vanishing species: the "affordable 2 bedroom SFH". They are doing the way of the Dodo bird.

Treasure them. Profit from them!

NE,

In 2022, I switched over to MTM agreements only. 1 year leases with ELT's tie my hands too much. Plus, I do not chase deadbeats in court in the pursuit of nickel and dime garnishments either.

Roy, the tsunami of applicants is the new normal.

This is the reason that the copy and paste text reply, lockbox showings mode of operation was shared on this forum.

I can’t keep up using old timey methods of voice calls, answering questions while screening, setting an appointment for viewing.

Good to know. I will proceed to answer them as if you are asking for advice. Ya know, for the newbies who may be reading here.

Sid,

I wish now I had set my advertised rent at $950/month instead of $650.00. (2 years ago, my Zillow advertised rent was $550).

I am stuck at $650 for now. It is what is, but on my next vacancy, I will pay more attention to my asking rents.

Oh, BTW,...$650 x 12 months = $7,800 / $20,000 = 39% ROI

This is the reason I just love Class C and D hoods!

Sisco and NE,

I will admit that I still cling to my fashioned LLing ways, however, I also operate my business on the old adage,.."if it ain't broke,..don't fix it!"

And my 'system' or way of doing things, is not broke. It is not the most efficient system, but it ain't broke either. It still works for me.

One of my prospects this week told me why she wants to rent my house and not any of the others she has looked at. Her exact answer was, "you are the only LL in this town who actually answers his phone and you personally invited me to come and see your house today".

For this reason, I don't think I need to make any major or minor changes to my 'system'.

Roy,

NE,what is wrong with being left handed?

I take phone calls. The phone and the in-person showing are all part of the screening process. In 40 years of rentals, I've never had an eviction and only had to ask 3 tenants to leave. Careful screening saves a lot of work in the future.

If you never meet your applicants, how do you know who is lying about smoking, who has out of control pets or kids, who has a swastika tattooed on their forehead, or needle tracks, or stinks of pot?

Roy, my experience is that tenants stretch to pay as much as they can for a rental to get the best place they can qualify for.

There are exceptions, although they are not common. I had a guy making $250,000 a year and he rented a $600 a month 30 year old mobile home from me. He was with me for four years and then he bought a house for $600,000, paying all cash. A great tenant and I wish I could find more like him.

I also apparently left handed although I hold a fork and a pen in my right hand.

I am small time compared to many on here. I have been around doing this long before technology. I don't allow folks to call me - I have them submit via e-mail my simple, basic requests. If that checks outwith public records, I schedule an in person showing. I hold open houses and those have been zoos the past three or four years but it's a few hours two times and I always end up with a tenant. I have at most three turn overs a year. So ... less than 10 hours to get a new tenant... I'm okay with that.

My experience is like Oregon Woodsmoke’s. I had a professional man with an income of 100k rent a 1972 single wide mobile home from me for six or seven years, rent $550. He eventually went on to buy my smallest rental house (I mean it was a 2/1/carport 585 sq ft.). The house he bought was smaller than the mobile home he was renting.

I have another single wide mobile home, 1974. Rented to the same people for six years now (income of about 75k), rent was $650, raised this year to $700. I’m selling it to them with owner financing because they are well qualified but nobody gives mortgages on single wide mobile homes of that age even when they come with land.

Oregon, just as others on this forum were hit by a tsunami, now Roy is facing the tsunami. I can’t do the phone screen, appointment setting method when I receive 120 replies per day.

Apparently, this hit in IN 10 years ago, in MO 8 years ago, now in AL. It will reach you. I too would prefer the old ways, I had mastery of the technique involved. But advertising is different now, culture is different now.

Ken,

If I re-listed this house at a higher rate, that would only backfire on me. False advertising, 'bait and switch' slumlord tactic,..oh, I can hear it now. I can live with $650.00 but all I really want is just a good tenant with a decent job.

I have DQ'd 7 apps today mostly for 'incomplete app'. When a prospect leaves half the app blank, they are hiding something! However, I do have 3 apps that I have requested additional information on. All 3 apps look promising on the surface but I have some more digging to do. And the $100K applicant has a commission based sales job and she makes decent money but nothing even close to $100K.

NE,

Do you ever meet your applicants at all? There are some LL's who screen applicants, collect money, docu-sign leases and never once even meet their new tenants. Keys are left in the mailbox. Is this you?

I don’t meet applicants until they are 99% approved. That’s when I do the in-home inspection. And drop off a sample lease for review. If I’m at that point, they’re almost guaranteed to be signing a lease. If they don’t sign the lease, then I need to tweak something and tighten up screening so I’m not wasting my time with riffraff.

I had a flood of applicants for a large 1 bedroom apartment in a "C" area of town, Koreatown, Los Angeles. I was fed up with the lies crazy things put on the application. Here is how I handled some of the applicants.

#1 A pregnant wife and husband looking for a larger apartment. They lived in a small no bedroom unit down the block. Wife came and wanted to take it. I refused until all parties have a viewing. They showed up as a couple, then man has to hurry to work. The wife didn't have with her all of her information. So I volunteered to walk down the street so she could provide me with her social security information, pay stubs and bank account. While in the unit I didn't see 1 male article of cloths. It was obvious. The man knocked her up, he is married to someone else. She needs larger place so he agreed to a sham marriage so his real wife wouldn't find out.

#2 A guy saying he works at the Downtown Library and a head librarian and has over $100,000 in the bank. When I called the library they gave me a song and dance the guy is in charge. So I called a tenant of mine who has been a librarian for 30 years with two master degrees and reports back the applicant is not boss, he's only a short timer, 3 years and is low on the totem poll. Also his bank statement showing $100,000 was an altered copy, he only has around $10,000 in the bank. Had he not lied, he may have gotten the apartment.

Applicants are concerned about maintenance issues, say currentlandlord who hasn't raised rent in 4 years asks them to take care of a few more issues that come up where they rent, it is an inconvenience. I ask them to clarify so that I understand. They had fleas and were told to take care of it. Fleas usually come from animals, don't they?

My lease and ads say no pets. They express their desire to have a dog. I reiterate that. The, "how about something that stays in a cage?" I ask, for example? Response: rats. I said we've not done that either.

I offer they can speak to the current tenant moving on kind of landlordswe are. They take me up on that...ask him how often we make announced and unannounced visits to the property. That was the extent and emphasis (per my tenant) of their questions posed in different ways, and all our rules... N E X T

Anyone who complains about their current landlord at their application interview is an automatic DQ.