We have only been advertising our rental for two weeks and have had numerous inquiries and around seven showings. A couple of people have made it clear that the house wasn’t right for them, but the others have been very enthusiastic about the property and appeared very interested – a few wanted to give us a deposit that day. I don’t want to accept a deposit prior to getting an application and approving the potential renter. However, we haven’t received any actual applications back. It seems odd to get a very positive response, but the person won’t return emails asking if they are still interested. Is this common or does this point to something we are doing wrong? We provide a lot of information in the Craig’s List ad, so nothing should be a surprise including the rent. For a single family home, the rent is below average.
People are flaky - plain and simple. Add Craigslist to the mix, and the flakiness factor rises exponentially. I always tell people that I will not hold any property without a deposit, whether they have an approved application or not. We keep a running list of potential renters from when we advertise one place. Many people will ask if we have anything else available. We usually have a deal under contract so we’ll tell them we’ll have another one available soon. Between that and getting calls randomly from Sect. 8 applicants, we don’t have to advertise much.
The last house we rented was like a zoo for showings. My wife set up about 15 different people/families to show up within an hour. Not quite all of them showed, but most did. I was handing out apps left and right. Some people wanted to take the apps home. Another couple filled it out on the spot and gave me a cash deposit. I gave them a receipt and told them as long as they screened ok, the place was theirs. I have no problem accepting a deposit with the application because if they don’t screen, I’m going to keep their app fee and refund the deposit. As soon as someone doesn’t screen, I move on to the next one.
I can tell you what is happening. Your viewers are looking for a landlord they can charm into accepting them without screening them. When you insist upon an application, they know that you won’t accept them after screening, so they don’t apply.
That is doubly true of the ones who are trying to get you to accept a deposit without checking them out.
With maybe two exceptions, every applicant I’ve ever had who actually wants the house sits down and fills out the application on the spot.
All I can tell you is when they don’t apply after raving about the house, be glad you dodged the bullet.
Thank you both again. We plan to use the same approach for deposits. We are also thinking that some of the individuals were trying to get us to skip the screening process.
If you think the applicant will be a good fit for the house, take the deposit. Always take their money. You’d be surprised
how fast your response rate (e-mail) increases when you’re holding $1000 of their money.
He who has the money, has the leverage. When you have their money, they have to come back to you.
If you decide against renting to them, you can always return the money.
If you want follow through you need to be proactive. Potential tenants are looking are many properties. They may love yours but will likely also love something else if given the chance to see it. Proactive means encouraging then to fill out an application (as much as possible) right there, taking any applicable application or credit check fees, taking a deposit, get then to sign a letter of intent to lease, and getting then to sign the actual lease as soon as you are ready to proceed. Any one of the previous step or a combination would make it much more likely that they would follow through. Note a letter of intent is hard to enforce (unless you attach the actual lease they would eventually sign) but it does heavily encourage them to follow through on their commitment since they signed. A deposit does the same and more since they would lose it if they walk. Note you are not forced to rent to them if you take a deposit, have a clause in your deposit agreement that makes it conditional on your application approval.
Shaun and Sammydy, we did get more proactive in terms of encouraging them to fill out an applications. I looks like we will have a signed lease very shortly. Thank you.