Secrets of Tenant Screening

Ann Arbor Real Estate Investing & Real Estate Financial Planning™ Podcast

Tenant screeing... an important, but often overlooked skill. If you're going to manage properties yourself in Ann Arbor, you're going to need to know how to screen tenants.

This class is Module 4 of 46 in a series called Real Estate Investing Secrets.

Topics covered in this module include:

• What are the 5 steps in the property management process?
• What 10 things should you always check—and why—when preparing a property to rent?
• The Tenant Screening Process... in 5 easy steps.
• How to think about renting your property to get in the right mindset.
• Why you should be deliberately charitable... if you choose to be charitable... outside your rental property business.
• How does the initial call with your prospective tenants set the tone for your entire relationship?
• How to define the landlord-tenant relationship.
• What is it important to answer your phone when marketing to find tenants and what this says about how your tenants are likely to respond to you as a landlord.
• Why is it critically important to screen tenants on the first call and to not meet unqualified prospective tenants at your property?
• The magic words for getting a tenant to open up to you on the phone with your questions.
• What are the 10 critical initial screening questions to ask tenants on the phone before scheduling a time to meet them at the property?
• What are the different ways to show tenants your property?
• How should you prepare for showing the property to prospective tenants and why the first thing is critically important if you want to be paid on-time from your tenants?
• How to show the property to your tenants... and the one thing at the showing that will clearly demonstrate to you how your tenants are likely to take care of your property.
• The counter-intuitive secret to following up with tenants after showings...
• How to collect an application from tenants... especially if you’re not going to pay for a web-based service.
• What must you require from your applicants to be able to process their application... and how to deal with a tenant not having everything.
• The critical things you need to double check as you accept the application to process... and what to do if the tenant comes up short.
• Who provides an application and application fee... and why?
• How to get tenants to only apply to your property when considering other properties.
• The critical things you must get from your tenant—beyond security deposits and first month’s rent—to help protect you and help ensure you get paid.
• How do you deal with a tenant that provides incorrect (false) information on an application?
• How do you get an application and paperwork to use for your rental business?
• The one thing you need to do to avoid hefty fines, lawsuits and possible jail time.
• A surprising perspective on something that affects over 65 million Americans, but could open you up to liability, lawsuits, and possible jail time... and how you should properly deal with it.
• Tips and best practices for working with disabled applicants, service animals, emotional support animals and more.
• A powerful, inexpensive strategy to uncover bad apple tenants before you rent to them.
• Example application evaluation criteria and why it is critically important to use written, objective criteria when approving an applicant.
• A sneaky little way to get an informal co-signor on your tenants voluntarily to increase the odds of you getting paid if your tenant is unable to pay.
• Examples of common application criteria overrides and how you might handle them... and one that I’d encourage you to make an automatic disqualification.
• An example reservation deposit agreement, how to use it and when to use it.
• How do you notify tenants when they’re approved? When they’re not approved? When MUST you—by law—send them a letter telling them they’re not approved?
• How do you deal with tenant screening on a property you’re buying with an existing tenant?
• Plus much more...

Check out the video and additional resources related to Secrets of Tenant Screening.

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