Tenant screening is one of the most most important things a landlord does. Carefully screening out the potentially bad tenants will save you countless dollars and countless headaches. Tenant screening begins immediately, at the first point of contact. You should begin to look for potential red flags with that first phone call, e-mail or text message you get.
One way to see potential red flags is to ask questions designed to make them wave. One of these questions is something we ask everyone almost immediately. It is designed to save both ourselves and the potential tenant time and hassle. That question is:
“When are you looking to move?”
There are three types of answer you can get to that question. One of them is what you want to hear. While the other two should cause you concern and get you to dig into their background a little more deeply. Let’s go over those two first.
The First Answer You Do Not Want To Hear
The first type of answer has to do with immediacy. If the answer to the question of when are you looking to move is something along the lines of: “I have got to move tomorrow,” or “I need to move next week,” then you need to tread carefully. These answers are a big red flag. Why does someone need to move so quickly?
The most likely answer is that they are being evicted and they are finally staring at the reality that a hard day is right around the corner. You are probably not going to want someone in this position moving into one of your properties. The poor decision making skills are on full display here.
The best answer you can have to this immediacy type response is something like the following: “We have an extensive and thorough tenant screening process that will likely take several work days to complete.” It’s the truth right? Smarter landlords do have an extensive and thorough screening process. Once your screening process is explained, most of these types of callers will likely move on.
The Second Answer You Do Not Want To Hear
The second answer you do not want to hear is the opposite of the first. When asking when a prospective tenant needs to move, getting a long term type response such as “Six months from now,” is a no go. Are you really going to hold a vacant property for six months and lose out on six months of potential rent? No, you are not. So it is best not to waste anymore of either person’s time.
Let them know that you will be happy to hold the property for them during that time period provided they pay the monthly rental amount. If someone wants to pay me rent and not live in one of my properties for a while I’ll most likely be happy to let them. Most will not and will move on. Don’t let this opportunity go to waste however, be sure to tell them to check back when they get a bit closer to their moving date, perhaps two months out.
The Answer You Want
By now it should be obvious what you want to hear. The answer you want is: “I need to move in a month or two.” Perfect. This potential tenant is forward thinking and likely making good decisions. Continue on with the conversation to see if you have found your next tenant.
Remember this as well. Always be kind and courteous to everyone you talk with. Treat everyone the same and ask the same questions. Be consistent.
What Other Questions Should You Ask?
You can learn more about what to ask and look for when screening potential tenants by subscribing and downloading my free report: SmarterLandlording’s 21 Tenant Screening Red Flags.
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