I have one vacant house that I will be advertising on Zillow next week. This is a very large 3 bedroom house and I would prefer that tenants who have small children (ages 2-10) do not answer my Zillow Ad. Most of the interior damage I have had in the past comes from unsupervised small children. Now, I don't mind tenants with dogs because I can charge hefty pet fees on them but I can't do that with children.

So, I am considering advertising this house as a large 2 bedroom house with a bonus room in hopes of targeting my advertising to attract the tenants who do not have small children.

Lisa,

Plenty,

When I screen a Zillow applicant on the phone, I don't ask how many dogs do you have, I say something like "Tell me about children" and their ages please. People just love to talk about their children.

Jason - If I had any 4 bedroom houses, I would have a mob of Section 8 applicants lined up at the front door. LOL

"I say something like 'Tell me about children' and their ages please."

Roy... buddy. Don't do that. Just don't. I shouldn't have to tell you why. You are a HUD tester's dream by making any comments about children or familial status.

Rather, ask about "occupants". That's legal. Please, modify your statement.

Children do damage and lots of landlords would like to exclude them. That is why there is a federal law against excluding children.

I've rarely had kid damage. If the parents have good credit, good references, and good income, the kids are normally a bit better controlled. The in-home visit before approval is critical if pets or small children are involved.

I suspect that a good way to keep young children out would be to not have any bathtubs. However, removing a bathtub and replacing it with a shower probably costs too much to do it just to keep small children out.

If tenants with a pack of kids see "two bedroom with a bonus room" they are going to think, "Bonus! I can pack 4 kids in there on bunk beds". I don't think that advertising a bonus room would slow them down.

I'm sure you wouldn't want to violate Fair Housing guidelines, but you could achieve the same with a two-minute in-home visit.

I recently did that for a married couple with a single two-year-old. Their walls, and thus them, did not pass screening. I just came home from a visit with my own kids, who have a 3 1/2 year old and an eighteen-month-old Their walls are flawless. It all depends on the parenting.

Okay Sid,

I will start using the politically correct word Occupants. However, in the small maga town that I operate in, I am not sure if any HUD testers are actually here. HUD testers usually go after those big city landlords.

I applaud you considering a targeted customer.

I understand what you are saying and understand your logic. That logic is illegal. Sure there probably isn't a tester in your town. Just understand what a fair housing complaint will cost ANYONE and think five or even six digits. It will not have to be intentional or not. In fact just the perception might cost you multiple years of profit.

Allow me to add some additional information here that will help clarify my issue with "small children".

2 months ago, I had a tenant's outside drain pipe that was constantly getting clogged up with "something". After having the drain snaked out on multiple occasions and each time my plumber could not tell me what was actually causing the problem. It was an on-going mystery.

Ken,

When I approached them about the plumbers fee, they said "take it out of our deposit". I said, "I will do that but you all need to be packing up and moving out. You all knew about this situation when if first began". I handed them my 30 day notice to vacate.

When I am screening tenants, sometimes in person but sometimes on the phone, what is the harm in saying "I love children, however, tell me about yours!" No different than, "I love dogs too, however, tell me about your pets". Got any sweet and adorable pit bulls by any chance?

Jason, illegal in NC: rent paid as rent has to be applied to rent - it specifically can't be used for other balances if that would make the rent itself late.

But Roy. Man. You know better. You can't discriminate against kids period, no matter how much you might want to. None of us wants to rent to bratty kids. But federal law says if the shoe fits, we have to...

And a nice 3/2 home with a fenced yard is for families. You can't interview away "familial" interest in that kind of property.

BUT you can renovate away the attractive nuisance parts. No tubs, no fences, built-ins that take away sleeping useability of a bedroom by making it a permanent office...put your thinking cap on.

Home Office: add bookshelves all around the room, a built-in desk, task lighting: anything to take away from floor space and make it less usable as an actual bedroom.

Storage Room: Line it with shelves and tubs from Costco. A nice armoire from IKEA. A true storage space all set up. A couple of hundred dollars would add real value. And who doesn't want more storage?

Walk-in closet: make the smallest bedroom a fancy dressing room with three walls of hanging space, an island in the middle for putting on shoes, a dedicated make-up space with lighting - if possible, add a door through the wall into the primary bedroom.

Gym/Exercise Room: a spare room can be transformed into a gym. Padded rug, sturdy place to store weights?

Here's something:

w w w . amazon.com/dp/B0DLKV6G3N?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

WMH,

When I DQ someone for admitting to having a pit bull, they will never know the pit bull was the reason they got DQ'd. I will find another reason to deny them. Usually their Fico score is pretty bad and I can use that any day.

That could bite you if you’ve accepted prospects within that same credit range before.

I don't mind renting to small children but large children just sit on the couch playing video games and eating so they do less damage to the place.

Again, depends on the parenting. My most recent tenant family is a married young couple with one child the same age as my granddaughter. Just turned 4. She is a stay at home mom and parents him very effectively. He has a good STEM job. My fear is they will move out next year because the school district isn't so great.

Removing bathtubs was something I've done for many years when bathrooms needed renovated. Any extra "bonus" that came along with that was just fine with me.

Love, love WHM's ideas. I too advertise each of my units as one less bedroom with an office and add a picture of an office, used by a previous tenant, on my website.

Actually, in many states (maybe all) the closet or no closet thing isn't really a thing after all. Old houses often had no closets - they used armoires and that is perfectly legal.

Realtors often say it's not a bedroom without a closet but that's not a legal definition, that's a Realtor thing.

It has to have EGRESS to be a bedroom though - a window big enough to get out during an emergency. And the ceilings have to be tall enough and the room has to be big enough (not a closet with no window, for instance.)