Finished my latest rehab and listed it on Zillow a day ago.

With so many people talking about how bad the tenant pool is I have decided to keep track of this as a test for my area. Typically I would have put signs up, but I am using Zillow and my website only. I do not do FB or CL. My phone number is listed at two local utility departments as a LL. All calls go to VM which states they need to go to my website to see what is available.

In doing this I have added pictures (not watermarked yet), room sizes and a pretty good description of the property. It is a 2/1, total electric with central air, fridge, stove, W/D hook ups, new soaker tub, all new paint and flooring. It is part of a duplex, single story on a dead end street in a nice town. I did not list the actual address.

Also for the first time I have added a fee for the application. They can grab it but nothing will be processed until the fee is paid.

Had a tenant ask about any places I had coming open. I told him to have the friend go thru my website. This was a couple days before I was done with the apartment.

Not going to go with her simply because of lack of following directions and her FB account shows she is not a good fit for my place. She keeps leaving msgs thru the portal asking how to do this or that. Finally said she doesn't have Venmo or PP so how to pay the app fee. My CU already takes payments so I directed her there. Told her again to grab the app and read thru all the rules before she pays. See what happens.

Got one VM where the lady asked if I had anything open. The VM clearly tells them to go to the website. I did send a text a little bit ago advising her to go to the site. I also included the place I have open is in an adjoining town from where she wanted.

Zillow gave me one hit. Just the canned I would like to set up a schedule to view this. I replied back that they needed to go to the website, which is on the ad in a couple places. No response back.

Is that the exhaust fan in the wall right in the shower?

DJ, yes it is an exhaust fan in the wall. It vents up to the attic and then out to the overhang. Brick building. Also has ceiling cable heat so going thru the top is a no go.

I replaced the old one this time just because I had a spare and figured easier to do before the tile was put up. The old one worked. A bit loud and dirty.

This is also the first place I installed a DewStop switch for the fan. While testing it I could get it to come on with higher humidity. Not sure I have it tweaked in just right. Figured I would tell the new tenant and they could let me know if it turns on too often.

I'm all online with the application. I charge $25 per and up to two people can be on it.

Considering making it for just one person but since I have not even proven this will work in my area I figured I would let it be.

Keycheck.com does what Gkarl describes. I found them / they are associated with furnishedfinder.

Thanks you two.

I looked into the provider here a little but then stopped for some reason. Probably laziness on my part.

Update on my listing, just got another hit from Zillow and he is asking for specific times to view the place even though I stated that they have to be vetted first.

I might be letting good people go.

Thanks for the Z tip. I am going on there now to look for the canned response set-up.

I did change the days I was available for showing as people don't read the rest of the ad.

Looks like you have to pay for the upgrade on Zillow to use the auto responder. Unless I am missing it altogether?

Got no hits yesterday.

Makes me wonder if I should get a new sign, put the website on it and place it in the yard?

Might be in my future to do so.

Right now it is top list for the town and third for the county (if you do not count the ones set up as STR in the county).

One of those shows the place staged. It might actually be a staged apartment as this is part of a complex. They list how many units in the 1 and 2 bed varieties they have available but show no pictures of them.

My place does not show staged.

Another one that is above mine, listing wise, is income restricted. Mine is not, unless you count the 3x income needed to reach my minimums.

zero,

They can use a credit or debit card to pay on PayPal without a PP account.

I did not see any benefit when I tried the $29 Zillow Premium Listing. Not many listings in my town.

If they pay the $25 Z app fee it includes a credit report to you.

I a concerned you are not seeing many requests thru Z. Even the canned responses indicate a level of interest. I'd be happy to look at your ad.

Staging got super cheap. VSHmedia has converted to all AI with www.Render.Photos. $1 per room promo right now.

Empty rooms look lonely and abandoned.

Hmmm....I just remembered you sent me info earlier and I forgot to call you back. (smacks forehead) Hit me up again! I also have another idea for you.

We are seeing a Back To School flurry in the last week. Folks wanting to get settled before Indiana schools start in a two weeks.

Brad, resending my link in a bit.

Update, I got two more hits yesterday. One was from Zillow asking for a showing. I directed her to the website. No other contact.

The other one was a missed call to my phone (all calls go to VM) and then a follow up text the next day from her. The name was familiar. Asked the wife and she remembered that we rented to this lady over 20 years ago. Bought a place and the lady, and her child, gave notice and were out the next month.

She is asking about the same exact apartment from 20 years ago! Amazing. Quick look up because I was curious shows no evictions but two collections. One I think was a car she let go back. Neither are high dollar and she is paying, albeit slowly, on both.

She was told to go to the site and fill out an application. She thanked me and that is all I have heard.

Got a call from my gutter guy. He is working on one of his rentals and has a dog smell problem. I took an ozone machine over there. He mentioned he has two parties already interested. Says he will push the one he doesn't take my way.

Only problem is he takes people that can fog mirrors. No look ups, no backgrounds, no anything else. But the one is a small family that wants in the school district and who has additional family in the area.

Going to my website to add that PP takes credit and debit.

Well we are going on seven days listed now.

I did put a rent sign in the window with my site on it.

Got a Zillow application from a person. I am hoping that she did it wrong as her monthly income is lower than a month's rent. I sent a msg to her stating that she needed to visit my site and follow the link to my application.

Hate that people are spending money on the Zillow apps and I still won't accept them. Maybe I should? That ruins me setting up my apps with fees though so I probably won't.

I got another hit middle of the day from someone with the same name that wanted a showing yesterday. She went to my site and just posted to my waiting list. No info, just that she did it. I sent her an email to be sure she just wanted to be on the wait list and was not in fact interested in the open place.

Well I was contacted again by the lady who showed only .9x rent. She stated she is only in state another day. From CA.

She is 24 and will be working/attending one of the colleges in the area. The income is correct and she said that other places required a co-signer. My problem is the co-signer will be her parents from CA.

I do not mind a shorter term lease. I used to rent to the college students but gave it up because of the entitled attitudes and the problems with chasing them down. I know I can contact the college and get some things handled that way, but do I want to?

The confusion about the applications was frustrating. I have it in the ad that prospects must fill out mine. She did finally, but no payment.

Zero,

You need a way for them to pay before they get access to the app. I have them send me a cash app and then I send the app. You have a website. so maybe someone can imbed a pay button before they can get access to complete the app.

Like I said, I generally pre-screen and use the Zillow app for that purpose. If you don't want to accept Zillow apps, just turn off that feature.

I will look into putting up a paywall before they can get the app. My thought was to allow them to get the app, read thru it and then decide if they thought they would pass.

This is all new to me, collecting app fees and having a website. I am wondering if the wording wasn't enough on the Zillow ad? I just changed it to say that they need to fill my app out even if they filled one through Zillow and that they have to pay me for the app to be processed.

Learning and baby steps I guess.

I am going to let this one slide with no fees because of the possible confusion with the ad.

Mine as well. Also says it on my site.

How is did it go zero [IN]?

I just listed a townhome for rent in Dallas, very nice home, good area, over 35 photos, fairly priced (slightly under market $1950) Zero hit in 2 days (only one sec 8 caller, which I don't take).

The last time this house had a vacancy 3 years ago, my phone was ringing off the hook.

Other comps on Zillow only had 30 hits in a month! which is really low.

I am going to put it on FB marketplace but there are lots of scammers and unqualified leads.

How is did it go zero [IN]?

I just listed a townhome for rent in Dallas, very nice home, good area, over 35 photos, fairly priced (slightly under market $1950) Zero hit in 2 days (only one sec 8 caller, which I don't take).

The last time this house had a vacancy 3 years ago, my phone was ringing off the hook.

Other comps on Zillow only had 30 hits in a month! which is really low.

I am going to put it on FB marketplace but there are lots of scammers and unqualified leads.

I got another interested person today. She is a new coach at one of the colleges that are local. She claims she will fill out my application and meet me Tuesday when she is in the area.

Hope that I get more hits this weekend, because it is looking slow here as well.

Zillow claims 196 lookers since I put it on market last week. We are in a small area but still not getting any real hits is odd.

One person will look at it today in an hour or so, if she gets back with me. (EDIT: She just contacted me and said she is an hour out, real close to the schedule we set yesterday) I am really leaning toward not going with her. Another thing I didn't consider for her is that she might not do lawn care and it is not included. She was also talking to a management company in a close by town that specializes in placing people close to that college.

Not ready to drop my price just yet. Still working out the bugs in my marketing plan. I used to just put signs up with arrows.

Good luck! I just tried out AI virtual staging got 2 leads right away. Pictures look amazing!! One of them have service dogs, so I am not interested.

Just got another application filled out with no pay.

Guess I really do need to put up a pay wall instead. This one looks good. Makes good money, more than 3x. Hired by the university. No work history. Her birthdate shows today, which I am assuming is a mistake or she is really quick to pick up stuff.

She is from in state and a quick search on our court site showed no problems.

Says she has a big dog. Didn't answer if she smoked or not.

Guess I have all weekend to see if I get more hits. This one isn't bad. I normally DQ when the app is not completed. Might be a little wiggle room there tho.

Got two more Zillow applications. When I sent the canned response about ours they balked because they already paid Zillow.

Looking at the Zillow app I was lost as to where they actually live now. They both work for Meijer but the store they are at is way up at the top of the state. They show they were in this area a couple years ago. Possibly one was going to a university here. Reason for moving was job offered them positions at another location. Lots of late pays on CC and at least one car loan. Ouch.

The coach did get back with me and ask if I got the application. So there is that.

Maybe I will stop hounding about the app fee and make it a goal to get better set up for the next one.

Got two more messages thru Zillow. One was the coach asking an additional question. Claims she will pay the app fee as well. Will be in town this coming week.

The other was a person wanting to set up a showing, even though I thought I turned that off in Zillow. I sent the canned response about going to the site, blah, blah, blah. She replies with yes 7/28 will work.

Was chatting offline with my buddy J. He took a look at the website I have. He didn't even laugh at the low quality.

But he did mention that it wasn't easy to get to the application page. Seems it is fine for computers but was a little confusing to navigate with phones.

I put a big applications button on the front page. Easily seen if on a computer or a phone. Maybe this will help with the lack of instruction following.

Got another Zillow app. Guy says he has never rented. Shows housing in a couple different towns and a divorce with child support. His credit report is not great. Again he shot himself in the foot with using Zillow because it showed me how many times he made late payments to creditors.

So absolutely nobody will pay for the app. I am considering dropping the pay section for now. It doesn't seem to be working in my area.

Now I did get someone who wanted to see the place but will not even fill out an app until she does. That's a no-go for me so she is out.

The coach showed up to see the place yesterday. Brought her boss and her bosses kids along. Odd but oh well. They loved the place with the exception of the smoke smell. When the place sits empty for a few days the smell comes back. In a last ditch effort I turned on the ozone machine and left it running with the furnace fan on all night. Headed over in a few to start airing it out while I take care of another project.

Maybe I need to drop the rents by a bit? It is in a nice area although road construction has killed getting there easily. Since I am not even getting many deadbeat prospects maybe I should drop it a little. I did raise it to what I considered top of the market rents for this area. Missed the hot move time for kids starting new schools as well.

Yeah, drop the price a bit. I market mine a bit blow market rent to make it attractive, I rather have multiple applicants and choose the best. I also give incentives for 2 year leases. There are a lot of rentals on the market in my area. People are picky and shopping around. Good luck!

Yeah, drop the price a bit. I market mine a bit blow market rent to make it attractive, I rather have multiple applicants and choose the best. I also give incentives for 2 year leases. There are a lot of rentals on the market in my area. People are picky and shopping around. Good luck!

Stopped by the office for lunch. Small perk of being on my own.

OK, so I dropped the SD down to rent. I had it $100 over. I have decided that I am going to increase SD when I increase rents. It makes sense and this will force my lazy hand.

I dropped the application fee for now. I sent msg thru Zillow to all the interested parties that I told had to pay the fee. Will see if that helps. I changed the Zillow ad as well as my website to reflect.

Now for worse problems:

When I showed it yesterday they smelled cigarette smoke. I decided to run the ozone machine overnight. Being in a hurry and the idiot that I am I did not put it on the box as I usually do and I bleached a small spot in my brand new carpet.

It has aired out by now so I am going to see if I can do anything about it. I still put carpet in the bedrooms and living rooms of duplexes for sound absorption.

Well removing the application fee got me another application.

They both make over 3x, have been with their jobs 15 yrs and 3 yrs. No evictions, no smoking. Bird and bunny as pets tho.

The biggest concern is it is a 2 bed and they have two kids, son and daughter, aged 9 and 11.

They filed BK because of medical bills and loss of work for the husband about a year ago. They told me this up front.

Will be semi-close to where they are living now so will do a drive by first.

If they had solid rental history during BK then I'd take them. Maybe not long term tenants, kids will need their own rooms in a few years.

My guess is that he got hurt, couldn't work and then filed BK because of that.

Nothing shows up as eviction or small claims from LL.

She has been on the job 15 years. He works for a different company that is local. Most likely acts as a temp agency. They do cleaning and manpower type staffing.

They looked at the place last night. I looked at their current place yesterday. From the outside all seemed good.

If they want to proceed I will set up an in-house visit mostly because of the pets.

Coach asking again about the smell. Wants to see it again next week if available. Unfortunately she is the best option I have at present, but I fear she will pick at everything.

I did get another hit from Zillow this evening. Sent the reply about going to my site and filling out application.

She did it!

Then I started looking her up a little.

She claims 2 years at present location even though she had a court case last year with a different place listed. DV with a deadly weapon. It was finally dismissed after almost a year of pushing it back.

Also had a couple evictions started but dismissed as she paid and stayed. Twice with the same place? Wow.

Claims self employed, no details. Claims more than enough income.

Had a custody hearing for her kid and it went where the father had custody and she had supervised visits.

Icing on the cake was that the 'family' that she is living with has a mile long record for drugs and theft. Meth and the like. Plus he has two active warrants.

Zero,

Get Zep smoke odor eliminating spray for ac vents, ceilings etc

If you have time, wash the walls and doors with diluted pink Zep wall cleaner ( wear long rubber gloves, lay towels along baseboard.. use a sponge mop on a long stick from Walmart) this washes away cigarette smell permanently and leave walls and doors very clean. It can be done rather quickly, i

a day or 2 . Just don't let nicotine get into your skin. Ozone alone doesn't do it.

What is your rent range?

Mine is on the market for $1900,only 2 showing in 10 days, one applied, everything looks good so far, waiting for one more item. The market is very slow indeed.

Zero,

Get Zep smoke odor eliminating spray for ac vents, ceilings etc

If you have time, wash the walls and doors with diluted pink Zep wall cleaner ( wear long rubber gloves, lay towels along baseboard.. use a sponge mop on a long stick from Walmart) this washes away cigarette smell permanently and leave walls and doors very clean. It can be done rather quickly, i

a day or 2 . Just don't let nicotine get into your skin. Ozone alone doesn't do it.

What is your rent range?

Mine is on the market for $1900,only 2 showing in 10 days, one applied, everything looks good so far, waiting for one more item. The market is very slow indeed.

Lisa, I might try the Zep. Problem is that I washed the walls then oil base killz and then two coats of latex paint.

The smell is bleeding thru the coverings. Not sure that the Zep will help in this situation. This is the second time it has happened to me. Not sure if Killz changed their stuff or what, but it is annoying. Might head to Lowes and grab a can just because I am grasping at straws.

As for market ranges mine are way, way lower than yours. I have this 2/1 set at $750. That might be on the high end of the market for these parts but I did put a lot of upgrading into it this time. Aside from the smoke smell it is a nice little 900 sf apartment.

Just bought a can of the ZEP smoke spray. Headed over there now to unleash it. I really doubt it helps in this case, but anything is worth a shot at this point.

Update: Got another hit. This guy actually went to the website at least. I told him to fill out an application and he did. Was riding home and looking at the application. Only 5 months on the job, but everything else looked good.

Got home and checked him out a little. Speeding once, seat belt violation once. Not at the same time.

Then I saw the eviction, from March of 2021. He left early but past due rents and damages were a little over 4k, of which he paid thru garnishments until May 2022.

My application asks any pending or decided evictions for any applicants to which he replied no. There is another line after that asking for details, to which he put n/a.

So I got a call which went to VM. Guy had already looked at the website but wanted to get a person so he could act faster. I sent the response about the application.

They filled out the application. I called and listened to the story. They drove here from VA with a U-Haul and a car. The place they had set up to rent fell thru as the owner rented it out to a family member. I looked up the management company and the owner. All seemed to play out.

I got their DLs in a text and gave them the code to the lockbox. They asked about the smell. I sprayed the ZEP smoke spray in there around noon. It did not help I guess. Anyhow they decided that a little airing out was in order and asked about getting the place.

Looked him up online. Failure to get vehicle inspected and a couple speeding tickets going back a few years. No evictions, no DV, no drama.

Meeting them this morning-ish. Have to call Western Union to verify the money orders which is what the other place wanted for first payment.

Looks as if I might have the place filled and possibly helped some people out.

Well I got the lease signed. They seem like a nice couple. Dog was a bit nervous but after a ten hour drive to Indiana and then a two hour drive to and back from Ohio I can imagine it was a shock.

I accepted three money orders that they had for the other PM company that rented the place before they got there. They told the tenants that the owner rented the place to a family member. My guess is that they didn't get a holding fee so they rented it first come first served. Can't blame them if that is really the case.

But I got my place rented for $100 more per month than I was getting. I think it is floating at the top of this market. I did not drop the rent price but I did drop the deposit since I am bumping them now with rent increases. I did not get paid for any applications.

I will stew on that for a bit.

Now I have to wait for my CU to open on Tuesday so I can deposit the money orders. I told them that I was starting this on trust but if the MO's were fake I would be back. I actually said I would send someone back. They used Venmo to pay the rest. So I got rent, increased with one animal, an animal registration fee and the SD.

Congratulations!!!! Nice work!

Get a drink and chill!

I'm confused. How do you except money orders made out to someone else?

Why did you not get paid for the applications?

How long had your place been vacant?

Are cashier's checks not safer than money orders?

Aside from the many questions running through my mind, congratulations on filling the unit. I hope it works out. Pet the dog.

"I'm confused. How do you except money orders made out to someone else?"

They had money orders because the PM wanted them. They had no names on them from the get go.

I dropped the applications fees and got more people interested. My area is just not ready for that the way I had it set up. It is a work in progress.

For now getting $100 over last rent and off the market I am happy and will not complain about the few applications I would have made a little money on.

As far as the cashier's checks go it is a moot point because they had to get MO per the prior instructions.

They got utilities switched over already. Had one other text from them, the shower wasn't hot enough. I had switched the smart water heater to vacation mode and forgot to switch it back.

Okay, now that I am all but done with this test project I want to see what my takeaways were.

- The place was open from April until August. I knew it would be off market for a while because I was updating a whole lot in there. Another reason would be that we went to the Mr. LL Con and the boot camp this year.

So I am obviously not complaining about those two happenings. I did have a couple small day projects hit here and there, but this was it for the most part.

- I listed it with Zillow. This was only the second time I have used them. There was some confusion with my ad about needing my own application filled out.

- The application fee was a no-go this time around. I will get that finalized before my next empty (I hope).

- Just using Zillow and the few people that called from me being on a LL list I would say maybe around a dozen inquiries. I did get a few people ask but they had dings on their records that I wouldn't deal with.

- In all I had three sets that were good to go. One was the coach and I feared she would nit pick but would have taken her anyhow. One was a family of four. They had two kids, boy and girl 9 and 11. Small place for that, but for shorter term I was considering them. Then the couple that showed up from VA and ended up taking it. Seems like a good fit. Time, as always, will tell.

- So I lost three months rent. I updated a whole lot that needed it. I went on two business trips. I rented it for $100 more a month, which I think is close to the top of the market. I did not drop my price, although I was getting close to it.

- I could (maybe should) have taken Jeffrey's advice and marketed it to the local college and to a couple of the distribution centers in the area.

I am not saying that the potential tenant pool is terrible. It is different than when I had my last open place for sure. Learning how to manage is the best thing I did.