How To Find Good Tenants | A Guide for Landlords

Knowing your laws is the first step in the tenant screening process for a landlord. Avoid costly mistakes that rookie landlords make in the tenant screening process.

You must know your federal AND local laws. Be sure to research your state and local laws that govern the tenant screening process.

The Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination when they are renting, buying, or securing financing for any housing.

This list of protected classes includes the following:

• Race
• Color
• National origin
• Religion
• Sex
• Disability
• Familial status

The protected classes are protected through the entire screening process. From marketing to selecting your tenant. Know who they are and understand their rights.

The FCRA governs CRA's (consumer reporting agencies) and you should understand the rules laid out in the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from a discrimination claim is to create a set of standards for your rental property.

You should have a "tenant screening criteria" established for each rental property and stick to your standards of why you either accept or deny a tenant applicant.

A growing trend is for a landlord to enact a "First Come First Served" screening process. This is where you screen applicants in the order they submitted a rental application, then, the first applicant to pass your screening criteria will be offered the rental. Currently, Seattle Washington is trying to make this the law.

Having a screening criteria standard for each rental is a no brainer. To take it to the next level, consider screening applicants in the order they applied for the rental.

Spend time and put together a tenant screening criteria. It could save you big down the line!

One of the most important screening tools is to establish a rent to income ratio for your screening criteria. It is your legal right as a landlord  to make sure a tenant applicant can afford the rent you'll be charging. Learn how to set the rent to income ratio for your property.

Setting the right rent amount is going to play a big part in the response you get for your rental property. Make sure you're charging the correct amount for your rental.

Learn how to set the rent to income ratio for your rental property.

Learn a quick calculation for determining the rent to income ratio.

If you don't properly market your rental you won't get enough interested applicants. Don't get caught picking the best of two tenant applicants. Learn how to market your properties.

For this course we're going to focus largely on digital marketing solutions for your rental properties.

Take better photos and you'll get a better response to your rental listings. It's that simple. Learn a few tips on how to take better photos.

Learn how to edit your photos to really make them pop. We cover a beginner's guide to photo editing in this lecture.

Are flyers date? ... Yes they are.

However, things such as flyers and signage can always make a difference. Check out these free templates.

Learn how to post a rental on Zillow.

This concludes the marketing section of this course. Next, we will learn how to engage the interested renters who saw your marketing.

This step is crucial. Don't waste your time showing your rental to non-qualified applicants. 

Google voice is a nice free tool that will allow you to have more control in the screening process.

Try these 20 questions on for size. You don't have to ask every question but pick a few that work for your situation.

Our Facebook group is a valuable resource. Check out what landlords had to say on prescreening applicants.

This is the first time you'll be showing the rental to interested parties. Make sure you're figuring out a system that works well for you.

As you can see, there are different strokes for different landlords when it comes to showing a rental property. Make the right decision for your situation.

Learn the Pros and Cons of different showings you can do for your rental listings.

Your rental application is a valuable screening tool. Make sure you're using it to it's full capability. 

This simple policy can save you a lot of time and headaches. Learn how.

Be safe and follow these tips to make sure you maximize your in-person screening.

Running a background check is a crucial step in the tenant screening process. Make sure you're doing this in order to get the right tenant in your property.

Learn more about the different types of background checks available to you as a landlord.

Learn how to choose between the different packages available to you.

Make sure you're using adverse action when denying a tenant applicant. You must do this!

Now you can follow your screening criteria to choose the right tenant.

Take advantage of our free resources!