I routinely see people posting about entitlement or getting lots of Non-Quals wasting their time. When i hear and see this my first few thoughts are have they researched what the ideal resident looks like and how are they marketing the unit to attract so many bad apples.

When I ask that question, the answer typically comes out it is just the market..........so then why stay invested in that niche in that market?

I am more inclined to believe that the marketing plan (if they even have one) is incomplete or targeting bums. Bums are nothing new, there were freeloaders 100 year ago and there will be others 100 year from now. Indeed personal property rights have been targeted but dialing 911 to report it online without acting does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. In the hopes of improving someone's mistakes, can we discuss how you see others screwing up their marketing.

So what are the various ways mess up marketing.

1) A pet peeve of mine starts out with signs. If you are only using a simple "for rent" sign - it is my opinion you are asking for every Non Qual to call you when you put your number down under it........But the reverse is true if you are using bandit signs to buy places. The planner the sign that you buy houses, the more calls you will get. Please understand about 1/3 of those calls will be from code enforcement. I find if you humble when are buying you should be bold when you rent.

2) that customized sign works well if it is in the color scheme for the local school district. around here there are two large ones. One is red and black the other is blue and white.

3) If you have a homemade sign that says for rent, make sure you have a lower end class C to match it

Those are my inputs -

Ray, do you have people flooding into your area from all over the country and mainly from blue states?

Do you have hundreds of apartments being built and right in your back yard and within walking distance of your rental?

Do you have the other folks that are more qualified not wanting to move for another few months?

I am not using a sign in the yard, even though I got to the point I tried, for the very reason you mentioned.

I have in my ad copy pictures with the school logo's and in the ad. Those are the folks that I am starting to get but they don't want to move until a few more months as they don't want to pay rent at 2 places.

More inputs needed.

Another thing is, most of these folks are coming here from other areas and don't have current work history here and some don't even start until a month or so out.

Had 1 guy look great until he sent me fake past and future employment letters.

It is if I need to just hand keys over and not screen. And nobody wants to send documents, especially bank statements.

Or Uneffectively.

I'm not getting non-qual people because of a yard sign. First of all, I am far too lazy to use yard signs to begin with (all that travel and banging and picking up and storing, not to mention phone calls as a result...whew. Nope.)

No, I get non-qual people because even though I post a complete description with pics and floor plans and prices, people don't read it. They seem to look first at price, then **maybe** size (not always thus a party of 5 asking about a 1-bedroom.) And then CLICK "Can I see it?"

I wish I knew MORE places to blanket advertise. I've gotten away from the yard signs but post concurrently on FB, Zillow, AHRN, Zumper, Apartments, Realtor, and even CL every now and again. All interactions with prospects are 100% automated until they've met the most basic of requirements.

Ray, you're 100 spot on. There are regular posters here who haven't learned your lesson.

Compare the experience of a goo gle search for a rental in your town to a vacation rental or buying a car, or buying home improvements. In my area, the property management companies will collect the shoppers information and will provide them much assurance that they will get them their best value in housing with elimination of scam schemes. With my offerings, they will be linked to a zillo ad.

With the vacation or new car shoppers, they will forever more be receiving marketing information telling the prospect of the reasons they should buy.

Every market has their own issues and its the landlord's job to modify the marketing to reflect those items in a manner so they are not driven crazy.

I just nailed a professor and a researcher for the new purchase I made. Typically I wouldn't volunteer to leave the place empty but I am waiting on new windows to get built and installed.

If the items that drive me crazy would be people not reading an add, the question is how are we screening out those folks. If it because folks are relocating in to the area, how do you communicate - you must have a local number for me to reply to you?

Thank you for the further inputs.

I am marketing through more than Zillow. I am actually also marketing through Turbo Tenant who branches out to multiple sites as you have mentioned before.

I have a local number they can reach out to and every time they call, they are trying to avoid the prescreen process. As Sid has mentioned before, every time I give in and answer it is the people I am trying to avoid. So, at times I will text them back and start screening that way just to see if that works better but it doesn't. Otherwise, I try to automate as others suggest as much as possible to get a prescreen filled out. How else do you screen out those folks? Answering the phone sure hasn't been the answer.

I have tried multiple things and multiple times, but I can't do anything about the current environment. I wish I could send everyone back where they came from and their politics with them but.....The scamdemic changed everything and everyone.

"...and every time they call, they are trying to avoid the prescreen process. As Sid has mentioned before, every time I give in and answer it is the people I am trying to avoid"

2) Good idea - especially if it's a good school district. Make that subliminal connection.

A mistake may be knowing that prospects might tend to not read the whole ad, but still writing a lot of information in the ad.

Use simple bullet points, with the first one being "to inquire further about this property, send a brief email to (the email address with the automated pre-screening questionairre)". Might even add "do not just click a button on this website".

When they inquire any other way, they failed the cooperation test.

My pre-screen is a google form that I've rigged to "score" every prospect. Gives a score from 0-100 based on about 15 questions that I've weighted. (.ie answering "yes" to "have you been at your job for more than 3 years" gets you 10 points).

I post this pre-screen link on FB with my ad. I let 'em build up for a day or two...then sort by score...and start calling with the highest score to question further, and/or setup showing.

I also post on Zillow, letting them fill out the Zillow app. (no charge to me). (Get to see their credit score and background check).

At showing, I give 'em a paper app...that I use only if I'm ready to fully check 'em out and likely offer them place.

Who here has actually read the published add that zillow publishes? I know for an absolute fact that I said no applications and please call the special number that I provide so that they know the exact screening criteria.

The message - please call before you request a tour wasn't published in the add even though I spelled it out - in my mind as clear as day.

So do you hold the applicant at fault for MY selection of marketing platforms? Nope. Landlords use zillow because it is cheap and easy. It also markets to the masses. If you market to everyone, should we get upset that we get results from the masses? And as many others have said before, there seems to be even more dregs than before.

I am not all sure that is true or not. Do we have more access to databases than before to label people? As a society are we becoming more screwed up or do we have more news channels reporting "news"

I have not used a For Rent yard sign in over 15 years. When I did use them, all I got was the local dregs and many of those had just been evicted or just released from jail.

Here it is, folks! One time only... for the low low LOW price of FREE!

S i d's Super Colossal, Most Effective Ever Rental Marketing Strategy

1. Post it on Buildium, which syndicates to about everywhere worth syndicating too. Don't have Buildium? Use the PAID ADS on Zillow and Zumper. That'll cover 80%. Close enough.

2. All calls go to voicemail. If they leave a message, I send my standard text response. NEVER. PICK. UP. THE. PHONE. EVER... I mean it. See WMH's post if you don't believe.

3. All "I'm suuuuuuuper interested in your rental" email responses get the standard text response: "Thank you for your interest in 123 Anywhere Ave. Good news, the property is currently available. To see more info, click this link (insert link). To request a tour, click this link (insert link). To see our qualifications, click this link (insert link).

4. People who FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS and who at least claim to meet my bare minimum requirements (income, move-in time frame, say they've never been evicted) get a lock box code and date/time to tour at their convenience.

5. If they like the place, they get a link to the formal online application.

By the numbers...

One add about 100-150 "I'm suuuuuper interested in your rentals" responses. It takes about 5 seconds to response to each with my copy/paste standard schtick. Time spent: about 10 minutes.

Those weed themselves down to 20-25 pre-screens. It takes about a minute to check them on the free online court website and review answers to income. Time spend: 20-30 minutes.

Those weed themselves down to 4-5 applications. It takes about 20 - 30 minutes to call landlords and employers and verify the rest. Time spent: 1-2 hours.

Those weed themselves down to one (or a couple) of well-qualified applicants who historically have given me a 97% occupancy rate (i.e. rent paid... vacancy filled) and only 2% eviction rate.

Total time spent per vacancy: 2-3 hours.

Time from start of marketing to collecting all move-in funds and lease signing typically 1-2 weeks.

Works for me. Feel free to make it work for you.

Side note: Do I get a lot of bum responses? No doubt. Do I waste a lot of time, effort, or money dealing with them? Nope. Each response gets about 5 seconds of my effort. Bum response or great response... not a huge concern.

Decent point made. I agree that the majority of the time, no matter what you write, prospective tenants do NOT read them. "Do you accept pets" (even though it clearly states it a few times in the ad), "Parking for one vehicle only" (certain properties just don't have the parking yet they have 2 or more vehicles).

"Can you send me more information" or "Do you have any pictures you can forward to me". Ummm ... what else would you like to know that isn't in the ad? or the pics that are in the ad aren't sufficient for you?

My "beef" with it though is the ones that we call NEVER answer or do not call back. Or even better, we leave a message for and the response is "who dis" in a text.

I don't consider myself old or not tech savvy however, I do NOT like to text back and forth especially with prospective tenants.

Maybe I am old... but I want to TALK AND LISTEN to how they react, their background noises (like the chirping of a smoke alarm battery that needs to be replaced, kids or others screaming in the background, dogs barking, etc). I also want to SEE them (if they get that far) at the showing. How do they react, walk, talk, pull up in a vehicle, LOOK (appearance wise - dressed, pjs, hair combed, etc).

Are they ON TIME for the appointment? Do they actually LOOK at the place or do they just walk through fast, not walk into a room and then ask questions like "how many bedrooms/bathrooms is this" or something else that they can clearly tell just by LOOKING.

All calls go to VM is not a marketing strategy I guess but it has saved me so much time and stress.

I just have to remember when I have a new contractor calling so I turn off the DND on my phone. Once the task is done I load their number into my contacts and turn it back on.

Used to stick for rent signs in the yard and down the street with arrows. Then a buddy (J) asked why I was doing that. His words rang true. Most of the people driving by the signs were either grandmas wanting to get the kids out of the house or deadbeats that were sign hunting for mom and pops that they could fool.

Now I have one sign that I put in the window. It has the website listed. Soon it will have a QR code, I hope, to speed things up.

I haven't had hundreds of people inquire about my places because of where I am located. Using Zillow has helped a lot, even tho you still get some dregs.

I used to have contacts with two local colleges, but the quality of people I was getting slipped to zero.

There are a few distribution centers that popped up in the area. I have tenants that work at them. Even have one that moved here from VA to work at one of them.

As far as I know there is no 650 tenants' website where no one is allowed to join unless their credit score is 650 or above. If there is such a place and I've somehow missed its exitance, that would be a good place to mention that you have a rental available. But it appears that anyone, no matter how unworthy, can get onto any website and look for a rental.

If you have a few large hospitals in the area and hope to attract traveling nurses, you can put a listing in their HR department. Ditto for the military. Also true for colleges. But some of us do not have large hospitals, military bases, high value colleges, or huge factories anywhere near us, so those are not available places to post ads.

I can't do the "all calls go to voicemail" as I am a Real estate agent as well as a property manager (and own my own properties as well).

I do "turn my phone off" from time to time when needed but if I never answered my phone... I wouldn't make any money.

I do "hate" that my phone rings so much and that I am on the phone for as much time as I am... but that's the nature of the beast for me.

I understand that some may do this because that's how you want to run your business and that's just the way it is for you. I hope that works for you. If I don't answer my phone, they don't always leave a voicemail (I don't call them back if they just call and don't leave a message) and then they start texting.

One thing I don't do... is if some random person just texts me "interested" or "when are you showing" or some other nonsense... I don't respond to that. The majority of the tenants that I would WANT - wouldn't do that.

All Calls to Voice Mail is the same as 'You are not important enough for me to waste 15 seconds my time talking to you', however, I still want your rent money paid on the 1st which is all I really care about. All calls to VM is the politically correct way to say 'Fck You'

Roy my tenants don't want to talk to me any more than I want to talk to them. They call to be polite - calls go to VM and they happily text me at that point.

I've had more than one tenant tell me "You respond so quickly!" And I do.

All Calls to Voice Mail is the same as 'You are not important enough for me to waste 15 seconds my time talking to you'

Roy... no worries, buddy. But I would invite you to take another look at this from a higher perspective.

When was the last time you called the President of the United States and he took your call? My guess is zero.

Okay, that's a little silly... so let's try something more realistic. When was the last time you called your local utility company to whom you have given thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars and got the CEO on the line? My guess is still really close to zero. How about any one of the department heads? Still guessing zero.

But maybe even THAT is a little silly -- even though you help them collect lots of money and pay your bills -- so let's get down to brass tacks: when was the last time you called your local Big Box retailer to whom you have given probably at least $100,000 for material and got to talk to the head store shift manager? Maybe.... once? Twice? Maybe... never?

You get my drift, I hope.

For a properly structured business, there are policies and procedures that handle the everyday, mundane processes. For those who do not adopt such practices, one of two things will happen: you'll lose a ton of business or you'll never grow your business beyond the base level.

Earlier today you said you have 15 golden geese laying you eggs. Well done! But let me push you a tad: could you manage 50 golden geese? I do. Meanwhile, in my "spare" time, I work a 40-hour per week W-2 job, raise 3 kids, play in a local worship band weekly, go to Porsche track racing events, host the weekly Men's group at my church, exercise for at least 30 minutes 5 times per week, and still have time to hang out with buddies at the local brew pub. And I recently restarted my hobby of brewing beer.

Compare that to 15 years ago: I used to flounder with 12 "geese", and they were not laying nearly the quantity or quality of eggs as they do today. They were bronze geese at best. My wife and kids didn't see me many nights and weekend. Play in a worship band or lead a church group? I never would've had the time to practice, learn the songs, or prepare study materials. Drive a Porsche on a race track? Heh, not a chance. Brew beer at home? Nope. Those things take time, money, and practice!

So what changed? My mindset. Policies and procedures are not "F**k you!" activities. They are perfectly normal, regular, non-crazy things that every business owner who grows past the initial mom 'n pop phase adopts. It's been done 500 million times before ... 500 million + 1 if you count me.

People EXPECT things to be done they way I do them. Re-read my post. 97% occupancy. This means 50.44 weeks out of the year I'm getting PAID every single potential rent dollar from every one of my 54 geese. Do you think my tenants would do this if they thought I was telling them "F**k you?" Are they all colossally stupid sheep for responding enthusiastically to my policies and procedures?

Or maybe... just MAYBE... is there another way to do things that might make Roy happier, healthier, and wealthier, all while making it easy for him to serve more tenants better?

Food for thought. Chew on it a bit and ask yourself, "If I wanted to double my flock of geese, how would I keep up?"

Thanks Sid, printing it off for further review.

Sid said, Food for thought. Chew on it a bit and ask yourself, "If I wanted to double my flock of geese, how would I keep up?"

Why do you keep thinking I need to 'double my flock' with more rental properties? I am completely happy with the 15 that I have now. Yes, I agree if I did double my flock, I would have no choice but to adopt your All Calls go to VM strategy. But if did that I would not get the pleasure of talking with total strangers on the phone whenever I have a vacancy. I actually enjoy talking to these people and listening to all of the crazy drama in their F-U'd lives.

I have more to say here in my defense but no time. My agent is calling on my landline about the HUD offer I made and I am going to answer the fricking phone. So, will you excuse me?

I'm learning a lot reading these comments. We have been off and on small time landlords since the 70's. We now have two single family homes that we rent for retirement income.

I did everything wrong listing the latest house. EVERYTHING. I spent too much time on every aspect of the process.

I will keep up reading the posts and figure it out.

Thanks, Guys!

Roy, I guess I need to give details on the all calls for me.

My tenants are all on my contact list. I get their calls. I do not have a portal set up for maintenance, questions, comments and the like. Maybe I will do that in the future.

But right now if you were to call me my phone doesn't ring or vibrate. Your call goes to my VM where you get a message stating who I am, the company name and the website to go to if you want to see what I have available.

From there you can leave a VM, text me or hang up and visit the website.

I now get maybe one spam call a month that sneaks thru and actually leaves a VM. Maybe two or three prospective tenants that just ask if I have anything and then want me to call them back. Depending on my mood I might text back stating that if they are interested they should visit the website.

When I am working on a project and get stopped a few times a day to answer the same questions that get asked it throws me off a bit. So now I do not get interrupted like that. I continue working on the task at hand, unless someone from my contact list calls. Then I stop.

Got a text at 3am two days ago from a tenant. Water gushing under the house non-stop. I reminded him where the house shut-off was and he tried it to no avail. OK, must be the main. I got up, got dressed and headed over there.

Turns out it was the sump pump running, but he didn't know.

I wasn't upset about it because that's the first after hours emergency I have gotten in years. But I replied to his text immediately. Same would have happened if he had called me because he is in my contact list. He thanked me for the service.

You enjoy listening to people's stories of woe. I have grown tired of it. I have also grown tired of the spam calls I was getting. I swear that the title companies sell my info.

My listings are very clear about minimum criteria. I still get a few people who don’t have a shot. I get a lot of people who are close enough that they hope I will bend and I get about 1 in 10 that will actually qualify.

Before when I wasn’t as clear about requirements I received so many messages that it was crazy. Now everyone gets a nice reply that very prominently lists requirements. Really cuts done on second attempts.

But based on what I have read from many of you it would seem we have more qualified applicants around here.