Just because I am always curious about how other LL do things, I would like to know how long (minutes, hours, days etc.) it takes you to properly screen just 1 applicant? I am referring to pulling credit reports, calling previous LL's, verifying employment/income, checking for evictions/criminal records, reviewing bank statements, etc. etc.

"It depends".

On average, I can DQ most applications within 2 minutes or less. I look, in this order:

1) Is the application fully filled out, or is it missing a lot of info? If there's one thing missing, I'll ask for an update, but if they leave off all contact info for a land lord or an employer, I know right away that this is the kind of tenant who will expect me to jump thru hoops for them. Time: 15 seconds.

2) What is their move-in date? If it's more than 45 days from now, I just put it in pending status and move on. Time: 5 seconds.

3) Does their credit report have more than 3 collections/charge offs within the past 2 years? If yes, DQ. Time: 10-15 seconds.

4) Do they have income 3x the rent listed (but not yet verified)? If not, DQ. Time: 10 seconds

5) Do they admit ever being evicted? If yes (but not yet verified)? DQ. Time: 5 seconds

So in about 30 seconds, I have DQ'd half the applications that come in. It's not rocket science, and I take the minimum time possible. I also list all of those qualifications on our website which are available for anyone to look at, so the fact that they chose not to and applied anyway tells me they will not be a good fit.

For the remaining 50%, I start with the criminal background because it is free and takes the least amount of time. Unless they are a common name (John Smith), I can find everything I need in a minute or two. If they are a John Smith, then I'll usually skip this step and go to land lord/employer verification.

All in all, I've streamlined my process. What I've found over a decade and half experience is this: applications that take me more than 30 minutes to completely process ultimately do not end up making good tenants. A good applicant has clear, concise, easy to verify references. On the other hand, a poor applicant leaves off important information, gives phone numbers that are not up to date or require me to go thru a maze of "to speak to so-n-so, press 1" vs. giving me their supervisor's direct line, and usually has many exceptions and special circumstances that require a lot of extra work.

In other words...simple applicants are usually the best. Complicated applicants are usually the worst. Are there some exceptions? No doubt, and I admit my system is not perfect. But I don't need or want perfection: it takes too long to screen each application perfectly. And that same applicant that requires tons of extra work to screen often also requires tons of extra time to train and deal with, so I'm not interested.

Sid,

One reason I prefer to meet prospects in person is so that I don't take an application fee ($25.00) from someone who I just DQ'd by looking or talking to them for 2 minutes. One lady last week started trashing her current LL and that was an immediate the DQ.

Great question Roy as I have been wondering the same thing.

Not much time at all. 3-5 minutes for income and credit check. A few more minutes to check reference if they answer when I call. Then if they are good to go there, whatever time it takes me to drop off a sample lease at their current residence for the critical 2 minute in home inspection.

I love Sid's detailed explanation.

Sid, I do have one question though, at what point do you run the credit report?

6x6,

Roy, to be clear, I DQ the kind of people you meet before anything happens. The process I outlined only applies to those who have passed pre-screening, toured the property via lockbox showing, and have paid the app fee. I DQ them when they fail to fill out the pre-screen or the pre-screen shows problems, which takes me only about 10-15 seconds to review. I don't know how long it takes you to drive to your rental and do your showing, but it's significantly more time than I spend. My guess is we're DQing most of the same "types"....the ones whose app looks as bad as their personal appearance.

6x6, the applicant fills out all their info online, so it takes me no time at all to run credit. It's included as part of their app process. I used to collect paper apps and then after attempting to decipher their hand writing I would input the info. It takes me a few minutes to review the info. Criminal all I have to do is input their name into our state's website, which is Copy/Paste from their app. The thing that takes more or less time is if they have a common name. I can usually X-ref by their birthdate, but some cases (usually older ones) do not always include that info, so it becomes a craps shoot. One thing I've noticed though: people with a criminal past are rarely stellar in other areas. I have yet to find anyone with a 720 credit score but also has 3 evictions and 7 drug charges. This is why I leave this to the last step if the name is common, because I know it usually doesn't yield much new information and it takes longer to dig thru. I won't spend more than 10 minutes on it, tops.

Sid,

If you (or anyone else here) is doing the final 2-minute in-home inspection, then that time driving to/from the tenant's house or apartment has to be accounted for in total time to screen an applicant. Are you going to drive 30 miles across town to make a surprise visit on your potential tenant? And what if they are not home?

Ray in PA,

Roy, as I said in a previous thread. If I am going to drop off a sample lease and do a two minute in-home inspection and it takes me an hour round-trip. It is way less time than meeting tenants at the unit and showing potentially dozens of prospects.

Over the past 4-5 years, my interaction with potential tenants is probably less than a 10th of what it was the previous 10 years.

Anywhere from about 30 minutes to about a week. The online stuff is fairly quick. Getting landlords to call me back and to get employers to call me back can take some time. If employers have the policy of not giving information, then we have to start the applicant on the process of verifying employment and income.

Also, once the applicant looks good, I will go to the courthouse and pull records and I do a home inspection. Both of those take time.

Occasionally, there is an application that can be rejected in a seconds because of the information, or lack of information, given by the applicant.

NE,

Just how far will you drive to do the in-home inspection? When I lived on the very north end of Atlanta, driving across town meant driving 60 miles (one way) from the North end (in slow grinding 15 mph bumper to bumper traffic) down to the working class hoods of the South end of Atlanta. That was a real journey and one of the reasons I moved out Atlanta. And when it is too far to drive, what do you do then?

NE, how do you proceed if the references don't answer when you call?

Roy, as far as paystubs, I haven't gotten that far yet this year. I don't know how I would tell if they are fake or not. A lot of scams these days. One of the problems I see with everything being online.

Also Roy, I would contact the applicant about the in home visit and give them a "24 hour" time frame for me to see the home they currently live in. My experience is lacking but how are they going to clean their home enough in 24 hours?

Roy said "That is what this post if all about. How much total time does it take you to get an applicant to YES. And then, about the time you are asking for a deposit and 1st month's rent, you learn they have taken their 'move-in funds' and made a down-payment on a used car and they won't be moving at all. This happened to me last week."

Roy, I would imagine that you would be able to catch that kind of behavior before you approved them?

Sid, thank you

Small potatoes point is where I get stuck. Running into problems verifying employment for the same reasons. What is the solution?

How are other LL's getting their units filled so quick if it can take up to a week sometimes to process an app?

6x6,

Screening any applicant is a PITA. And there are LL's do not screen applicants and just use their 'gut feeling' about people. A typical M&P LL will interview someone and say to themselves, 'this person does not drink, smoke, they have a job and they go to church on Sunday,..so that is good enough for me! Sometimes that approach works just fine and sometimes it becomes a disaster.

There is a flip-side to the above coin. You have LL's who are searching for Mr. and Mrs. Perfect Tenants. These LL's will screen their applicants like the CIA or FBI would in doing a background search on a possible terrorist suspect. They will use whatever means possible to dig up 'any and all dirt' they can uncover about a person going all the way back to the day they were born! This type of background screening can take at least a month,...unless you have access to the FBI/CIA/IRS data bases which not many people do.

I am somewhere in the middle of the above extremes. I screen my applicants to the best of my ability with whatever information I can get my eyes on. This information could be real or could be fake. I have an applicant that is e-mailing me 3 months of pay stubs today. If anything looks phony, I will call her employer to verify what I am looking at. But if the employer will not take my call, I may have to trust my gut feeling and either accept it as real or just DQ the applicant. It is always a judgment call sometimes.

Screening is not a perfect science. If it was, we would all have Mr. and Mrs. Perfect tenants.

All right, Roy, you got me! When I do the 2-minute home inspection, that does add time beyond the max of 30 minutes I spend if there's an application that I thoroughly scrutinize. But the point is, I'm making ONE trip vs. the folks who meet everyone making DOZENS of trip. On a rare occasion, I find a dud and have to make a second 2-minute home inspection.

Overall, I'm probably spending only 10% of the time screening tenants as are folks who insist on meeting and showing every property in person. My vacancy rate is below 5% and my eviction rate is below 2% for the past 5 years. Average turnover is less than $200, all of which gets billed to security deposit.

Feel welcome to adopt any of these strategies as desired.

Sid,

I do not make dozens of trips. Where did that come from? I meet all of them one time at an 'open house' to pass out applications. I will DQ some of the apps and then screen the remaining 4-5 apps. If I find a winner that has jumped successfully through all of my hoops, I will meet with them again for a 2nd interview where I will collect the deposit, 1st months rent and hand-over the keys. Two visits max.

Roy, regarding your long distance in home inspection; I hire a realtor and pay them $50.00. via paypal. It takes me 5minutes do handle this task.

Sisco,

NE,

My 'process' is making me wealthy. And if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

I don't see anyone telling Warren Buffett that he is 'old school' and that he needs to change his 'system' so that he can be more efficient and make more money.

Steve,

NE,

I don't consider answering my phone a huge waste of time,..only you do. I answer my phone because it is educational and most important it gives me a very valuable insight as to the type of people who are answering my Zillow Ads. From a business marketing viewpoint, it tells me exactly just who my 'target market' actually is. There are big name corporations in the U.S. that spend millions of dollars each year on market research firms just to find out one thing,...who exactly is their target market? Once a corporation knows its target market, it can better allocate resources to advertise to that market.

How do I know all of this? Between 1976-1980, I attended a major university and I graduated with a B.S. in Marketing and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA).

NE,

In my experience, most applicants won't call and I don't answer if they do. Their application has to speak to me before they get to talk to me. I had someone blowing up my phone after completing an app here recently. The app was weak and was not approved. There was no reason for me to talk to her. I find phone calls stressful generally as I'm busy so anything that I can do to minimize unnecessary conversation I'm going to do.

Gkarl,

6x6,

NE,

Usually I have only 1 open house. However, if I DQ all the paper apps from that first open house, I will then re-boot my Zillow Ad and schedule another open house. I have never had more than 2 open houses. My open house thing actually started in the summer of 2020, when Covid had everyone freaked out and everyone had started wearing masks and doing social distancing.

Last week, during my last open house, as usual I would stay outside and let everyone tour the house and those who were interested in moving forward, would take an application and fill it out right then. There were some who would take the application home, fill it out, scan it and send it back via e-mail.

NE,

I do open houses because I want to meet the applicants in person. I have had men show up with swastikas tattooed on their bald heads and women with their ex-boyfriend's name tattooed on their necks. I need to DQ these immediately. Plus, being at the house I can answer any question an applicant needs answered and not waste time trying to answer that same question with back and forth Texting.

At my last open house, a 19 year old woman who was working 2 jobs to support herself, she was also 7-months pregnant and was desperate to find a home for her unborn baby. When I asked her how she was going to pay rent when her baby arrived, she just gave me a very sad blank stare. I had to DQ her right then.

This is the reason I need to meet the prospects and DQ the obvious ones.