I know this has been discussed before...but what's the easiest, most efficient way to do this? I seem to recall one site/service that would do it all relatively cheaply and easily? i can run a background check myself via my resources with my "other job" - but wanted to see what you all use and again, would like to have an all in one service. Also...do you charge prospective tenants for this cost? How does that work? Not planning to list through a realtor at this time. Thanks in advance!
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DIY Landlords - application and background checks
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Last: 1 yr ago by Diggity
I'm curious about what others use as well. I have used zillow for applications and then just a separate background check service. I know zillow can do both, but it's expensive.
I do charge a fee just to recoup money for background check.
I do charge a fee just to recoup money for background check.
Follow up question... I'm putting the listing on zillow (in additional to other places like facebook marketplace, nextdoor, etc...). Any thoughts on using their application service? I guess one downside is prospective tenants coming from other sources will still need to use another service.
I used zillow to find a tenant for my property. The applicant paid the background check fee. I don't know if they get to send it to multiple people without paying again, but its sort of par for the course for renters.MAS444 said:
Follow up question... I'm putting the listing on zillow (in additional to other places like facebook marketplace, nextdoor, etc...). Any thoughts on using their application service? I guess one downside is prospective tenants coming from other sources will still need to use another service.
My property is in a desirable area and I've found it easy to rent so far, so I don't know if you'd have to do something different in a more competitive area. Also, we just put our listing on Zillow. Based on my experience on facebook marketplace, I didn't want to deal with all the low ballers that I got selling stuff. I didn't want to deal with managing applications coming in from multiple places either.
I used Zillow's lease building and signing service as well. I kind of wish I had just used Docusign because Zillow was kind of annoying to deal with because the signature lines weren't set up to deal with the owner being an LLC.
I always used mysmartmove. I'm guessing it's still around.
You would enter the prospective tenants contact info into the system and had the option of paying for the service yourself or having the other party pay.
Very seamless process.
You would enter the prospective tenants contact info into the system and had the option of paying for the service yourself or having the other party pay.
Very seamless process.
I use apartments.com for background and rent collection.
Pretty much this. Except I used my own lease and old school signing by hand.TMoney2007 said:I used zillow to find a tenant for my property. The applicant paid the background check fee. I don't know if they get to send it to multiple people without paying again, but its sort of par for the course for renters.MAS444 said:
Follow up question... I'm putting the listing on zillow (in additional to other places like facebook marketplace, nextdoor, etc...). Any thoughts on using their application service? I guess one downside is prospective tenants coming from other sources will still need to use another service.
My property is in a desirable area and I've found it easy to rent so far, so I don't know if you'd have to do something different in a more competitive area. Also, we just put our listing on Zillow. Based on my experience on facebook marketplace, I didn't want to deal with all the low ballers that I got selling stuff. I didn't want to deal with managing applications coming in from multiple places either.
I used Zillow's lease building and signing service as well. I kind of wish I had just used Docusign because Zillow was kind of annoying to deal with because the signature lines weren't set up to deal with the owner being an LLC.
Let's go, Brandon!
Yep mysmartmove. I used it last time and intend to use it for another house this year. It was great.
I used turbotenant and it was pretty good. Now using it for payments.
They post the listing to all sites. They had a background check service as well.
They post the listing to all sites. They had a background check service as well.
We advertise on zillow only & they list it to a few other places like trulia. We post our leasing requirements along with the description. As stated above, posting on anything facebook brings all sorts of unqualified people. We post our website link & they can fill out an application there. They see our requirements again & even "seeing" them twice, we still get smokers with pets applying.
As we get applicants that look like they will pass, we have them pay for the credit/background checks. It's around $40-ish now per applicant over 18 - haven't checked rates this year yet since everything is full. This also weeds out lots of unqualified tenants - not going to pay that if they know they won't pass.
We use mysmartmove for that because we like their reports better. We've used zillow & apartments dot com and they were ok. Once accepted, we meet with them again with the prepared lease & get the deposit & any pro-rated rent if they are moving in mid month. Our rents are due on the 1st.
We have rents set up online thru apartments dot com. No fees to us. We had been with cozy, but they got bought. No problems at all with them except that there is a 5-7 day delay in receiving payment in your bank. I think you can pay a fee to get it quicker if needed. We still have some tenants that pay with a regular check, money orders or cash.
As we get applicants that look like they will pass, we have them pay for the credit/background checks. It's around $40-ish now per applicant over 18 - haven't checked rates this year yet since everything is full. This also weeds out lots of unqualified tenants - not going to pay that if they know they won't pass.
We use mysmartmove for that because we like their reports better. We've used zillow & apartments dot com and they were ok. Once accepted, we meet with them again with the prepared lease & get the deposit & any pro-rated rent if they are moving in mid month. Our rents are due on the 1st.
We have rents set up online thru apartments dot com. No fees to us. We had been with cozy, but they got bought. No problems at all with them except that there is a 5-7 day delay in receiving payment in your bank. I think you can pay a fee to get it quicker if needed. We still have some tenants that pay with a regular check, money orders or cash.
I'm getting several inquiries from purported corporate representatives looking for "corporate leases." I'm assuming these are probably scams? Or should I follow up?
If its a legitimate broker that finds temporary housing for executives or something like that, the company should have a footprint that will be easy to find online.MAS444 said:
I'm getting several inquiries from purported corporate representatives looking for "corporate leases." I'm assuming these are probably scams? Or should I follow up?
I have absolutely no experience with anything like this, so I would defer to an agent on literally everything related to this. If I couldn't find a good website for the company that contacted me, I probably wouldn't even bother asking for advice from someone with more experience.
that's code for porn shootMAS444 said:
I'm getting several inquiries from purported corporate representatives looking for "corporate leases." I'm assuming these are probably scams? Or should I follow up?