I have been in my house for just over a year now. We have a small apt that is part of our house. Utilities are shared on one bill. There is a college nearby so we lucked out with our first tenant. Young kid, first year in college and his parents lived about 40 minutes away.
Anyway, we have been showing the apt to several people. What do some of you suggest for screening? I was going to do the online credit and background check. I was just wondering if any of you guys done anything like this before and where you went to get it done?

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

Like narwhal said with emphasis on the credit check. Try to get parents to co-sign if you can. If your a true rookie you may want to hire a property managment company to handle to whole deal, you will get more rent to offset the cost, plus they do the collecting so you don't have to worry about packing your 9mm to collect rent.

Although renting can be fairly easy the managment option may help stop you from having to pay for a costly lesson. I call it tuition.

Also with you being in California I've heard the the landlord tenant laws are stacked in favor of the tenant.

Yeah, I would do a credit check. I'm using a management company for my rental property, so I don't have to worry too much about it, but it costs a small percentage of the rent.

If your only renting a room market grad students, and rent to grad students only you are allowed to discriminate on that basis, but remember there are many professional scammers out there so don't take make any exceptions just because someone seems "nice".

I was just thinking about the situation. The guy seemed OK. Not really creepy or anything just left me curious. I tired to ask a few questions about where he worked and such but he seemed to "close" the questions quickly. Just moved to the area from GA and has no job.
Left me wondering why someone would move to this area. It is really bad here economically. We are a pretty small town. He told me he would give references from his past 2 apts.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

Don't rent to him. He's a major red flag. One course of action is to have the tenant supply refrences of prior landlords.

While I'm not a landlord, my Father has numerous properties. I've seen all manner of losers, wierdo's and freaks. The best tenants are the ones that are well kept, and can supply a good history.

Getting good tenants is one problem - getting long term tenants is another.

You need long stayers because the cost of replenishment and refurbishment with a constant stream of tenants eats into your profits.

Short-termers mean more initial checking and sifting on entry, and extra cleaning, fixing and rental loss on exit. Short stayers have less emotional responsibility and therefore inflict greater wear on your property.

One landlord I know has several ways of keeping his tenants for years. He makes sure they are local (have good jobs nearby, relatives in the area etc) and then tells them on sign up that he'll give them a rent-free period for 2 weeks every Xmas if everything is kept nice. This is the time when life gets expensive for everyone, and so the equivalent of extra money is much welcomed by his tenants.

His turnover rate is minimal and the rental 'loss' with the deal is more than balanced off against the problems of collection and repairs.

I don't own residential property - the problem is you're always dealing with Joe Public, and they can be a strange lot at times!


Ken Silver
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~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver /black, CD, immaculate (my wife's)
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5 and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.

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http://www.kensilver.com/newSLsig.jpg

I agree, go with your instincts on this guy. I sold my rental property a few years ago, only got burned once and it wasn't too bad, but it was enough. The good tenants won't have these red flags.

Credit check is standard, but previous references are easy to fake. Verify employment (you won't be able to verify salary though, unless he's willing to show you pay stubs). If in doubt, you got the wrong guy.

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2002 E320 4-Matic
2008 Subaru Outback
2009 Subaru Forester

If you don't have professional property management, then the best landlords are the tough ones. I would insist on tenant references, a court (judgments, other L&T disputes?) and credit check and ink the lease only if your "landlord sense" doesn't tingle. Having well drafted lease and house rules beforehand will minimize future disputes.

I rented out our Houston house before selling it a few years ago. Everyone here has given you very good advice:credit check, employment verification. I would suggest salary verification(pay stubs). The income should be in the application form and you are just verifying it. If you sense something is really not kosher, go with your instincts

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Flash Gordon

2003 E500 BlackOpal/Charcoal

2004 Infiniti G35X

Been a landlord for 12 yrs. Have 17 apts. Lots of experience. You need to go to MrLandlord.com. Great site with lots of info (as long as you ignore the right wing political bias of most posters ). You can sign up for on-line credit checks at that site. Once you get the paperwork in, you can get the credit report in seconds on the site for $9.95. The also do criminal checks and SS checks for more $.

I don't rely heavily on credit reports. I prefer landlord references but you have to be careful to make sure you are actually talking to the applicants landlord and not just a friend posing as one. Prior landlords, as opposed to current landlords, are more reliable references.

Familiarize yourself with your state's landlord/tenant laws. There are links at MrLandlord what will take you to those state laws.

I have had no problems splitting utilities in houses with one meter, including my own which has a small apt. in the back.

Never found a property management company I liked and I've worked for a number of them. A management company had picked the tenants for a property I purchased and they had chosen the worse possible tenants.

Federal laws are different if you are renting an apartment in your own house compared to renting apartments in a multi-unit in which you don't live. You have more flexibility.

Go to the question/answer board at MrLandlord for a good education.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Make sure your apartment is "legal" to rent before doing so if it isn't and you rent it the tennant has the right to have all rents paid refunded if they want.
Usually without seperate ele. meter spells trouble.

Mr. Landlord has some great posts and things you would never think of. (Thanks Kerry)

I was talking to my friend in NY who owns a multiplex today, asking him some advice. He said that he charges 25 bucks to run a credit report. He feels that alone weeds out 90% of the bad apples just to start. If they shy away and don't want it run, that's just fine by him.

I read a post on Mrlandlord about checking with previous landlords. Call first and check the reference yourself. Then have somebody else call that number and say they loved the building and wanted to know if any units were open and if they could see them. See what the response is. I thought that was pretty funny.

Lots of great stuff on Mr Landlord.

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1994 C 280 117.5k, White (Good as new)
1997 Toyota Camry 149k Miles (Not so pretty anymore)

1990 190e 2.6 95k (Sold-Should not have)
1981 240d Stick ??? Miles...sold

On non-separated utilities: This is not a problem in Denver. Most apartments do not have separated utilities. It does not effect legality. Some cities prohibit charging the tenant for utilities if they are not separated.
On charging for credit reports: It depends on the price of the unit. I rent a number of studios at the low end of the price range, mostly to students. A $25 credit check fee is a lot for them. It would put off a lot of potentially good tenants. So, I don't charge for credit reports, and only run them once the other references have checked out. I eat the cost and see it as a cheap final test to rule out someone who has otherwise passed my evaluation.

You'll learn tons of things on MrLandlord. Some of which you will wish you hadn't. If I had read that site before 'accidentally' becoming a landlord, I probably wouldn't have.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13