Hello, greetings from Colorado Springs! My name is Lance Kohler, and I'm the managing broker and owner of the Cornerstone Real Estate Team. Today, I'd like to continue our series on landlord education and discuss a landlord topic. Today's topic is tenant screening.
If you're a do-it-yourself landlord, there are four easy steps to help you through tenant screening, and I'm going to talk about them today.
Step 1: Pre-qualify All Interested Prospects Prior to Showing
On your listing—say you have your property listed for rent on Military by Owner or Zillow—you should have a list of your minimum leasing criteria on that listing so that anybody who's interested in the property can see what's required in order to rent the property.
For us at Cornerstone, we have it on our website, on the listing, and we include it on our online scheduler. We have a program that helps us schedule showings online, and if someone calls into the office about a property, we'll go over the minimum leasing criteria on the phone.
The idea behind that is to save both your time and the prospect's time from showing the property when the prospect may not be qualified to rent it. So, it's good to go through all your minimum leasing criteria over the phone or have it readily available where people can see it and determine if they're qualified for the property before they even see it.
Step 2: Screen at the Property Showing
Say your prospect went through qualification over the phone or through your listing/website, and now you're at the property. You can review that leasing criteria face-to-face and discuss your expectations of the property.
Some examples that come to mind: If you have a rental property with a beautiful lawn, garden, or flowers that are very important to you, now would be a good time—when you're face-to-face with that prospect—to go over your requirements for lawn maintenance or lawn care.
Who's responsible for what? How often must they run the sprinklers? You can go over those requirements. You may have a prospective tenant who loves to take great care of the inside of the property but wants nothing to do with mowing lawns, pulling weeds, or trimming trees. In that case, you can agree to disagree and part ways, but you've gone over your expectations while they're leasing the property, and you get a chance to do it face-to-face.
Step 3: Screen Through the Application
Again, if you're a do-it-yourself landlord, I'll use Zillow as an example. You can post your property for rent on Zillow and include your criteria—your minimum leasing criteria—with your listing. Then, you can also run an application through Zillow.
There's probably a cost—I'm not 100% sure of that, but I expect there would be. I know there's a cost for the tenant to fill out the application, but I'm not sure if there's a charge for the landlord or property owner.
For us at Cornerstone, we have links on our website, and we include links with each listing. If someone calls the office, we can send them a link, and they can fill out an application online. We try to make it as easy as possible. Our application can be completed on a computer, and many people complete it on their phones. Applicants can securely upload documents to prove their income and identity.
At Cornerstone, we have a four-part tenant screening process, but we also use a 12-point checklist to review applications and determine qualifications.
Step 4: Survey the Property After 90 Days
Your tenant screening process should include surveying the property about 90 days after the tenant moves in. This gives you a chance to review the property condition, meet the tenant, and review your expectations for maintaining the unit.
At Cornerstone, between about 45 days and 90 days after move-in, we go back to the property. This gives us an opportunity to discuss several things with the tenant.
One example is the change of seasons. If a tenant moves in during August or September, they may have been using the air conditioning but haven’t used the heat yet. Coming back 2-3 months later allows you to remind them to change the furnace filter and show them where it is. If you showed them at move-in, they might have had a lot going on, so now might be a better time to review it.
You can also show them how the thermostat works and how to adjust it. If it’s battery-operated, you can explain how to replace the battery if the thermostat stops working—rather than calling an HVAC technician to come out and replace a 9V battery, for example.
The same idea applies to spring. If they moved in during March with snow on the ground, 2-3 months later, the grass might be greening up. You can review how to use the sprinkler system, set up the timer, or shut off the water if needed.
It also gives you, as the landlord, an opportunity to see how they’re maintaining the property. If things aren’t going as expected—like dogs digging holes in the yard or a busted fence—you can address those and remind them of your expectations for maintaining the unit.
Closing
I hope this landlord education topic on tenant screening was helpful for you!
If you’d like a free market analysis or a free rental price estimate, visit our website at callcornerstone.com. On our website, you can click a button, fill in your property information, and we’ll send you a market analysis. This report is usually 3-4 pages and shows what your property should rent for in the current market. It also includes a list of 4-10 similar rental properties in your area for comparison.
If you’d like to learn more about our 12-step screening process here at Cornerstone, visit our website or call our office to speak with a property manager.
I’d also encourage you to check out our website and Facebook page.
I appreciate your time, and make it a great day!