I recently had a potential client contact me about helping her lease her single family home. She had several questions that I frequently get so I thought it might be helpful to post the information.
Here are her questions:
1. Can a real estate agent assist in leasing property or do I need to hire a property manager? Yes, you can use a real estate agent. Many real estate professionals will list homes for lease as well as help prospective tenants find a place to live. I work with many clients who are relocating for work and they often want to lease prior to buying.
2. Do you ‘show’ it like you would a prospective buyer? Do you put a lock box on the house so that any agent would have access? Yes, I install an electronic lockbox which records each agents entry into property. This is not only convenient for the agents & their clients but I can then follow-up with each agent that has shown the property for feedback
3. Do you get a credit report and who pays for it? We can require the tenant to provide a recent credit report (within 30 days) – all pages must be included with the application or we can get the credit report, with the tenants permission, and charge them a processing fee. Usually, if another agent brings in the prospective tenant, the application is submitted to me with a credit report.
4. Do you get a FICO score? Is there a recommended minimum score? Yes, I get the credit report with FICO scores. I like to see credit scores of 680+ but I also look at the prospective tenant on the whole. Many people have lost homes in short sales and foreclosures which brings their credit score down but they otherwise have good credit & income. These types of tenants can be great because they will usually stay long-term. They won’t be able to buy a house in the near future and it’s embarrassing for people to have to explain their financial situation, so once their in, their likely to stay a while.
5. Do you get proof of employment or salary, or something like that? Yes, we fax or email a VOE (verification of employment) form for the employer to fill out and we follow it up with a phone call.
6. Once the property is rented who does the tenant call for repairs or with questions? That is up to you, I often take the initial call from the tenant to find out what they need. If they need information, I can often help them with that and not bother you. If a repair is needed I gather the information so that when I contact you I refer you to an appropriate service providers. You will approve the work and arrange to pay for it directly with the service provider, but I can assist in scheduling the work with the tenant and the service provider, if necessary. Your most common calls as a landlord are right after a tenant moves in, there are usually a few miscellaneous items that a handyman could fix quickly. After that your most common calls are plumbing calls. Most realtors have numerous service providers they can recommend.
7. I’d sure like to meet any prospective tenants after they’ve passed muster, so to speak, credit-wise. Is there a way to say ‘no’ to someone even if they have good credit, or does the law require that I not discriminate at all, so that I’d be obligated to select the first eligible tenant? There are a variety of ways to weed out tenants to find the best fit for you as long as you’re not making your decision based on discriminatory practices.
8. What laws must I comply with regarding avoiding discrimination? Someone told me to go to the Apartment Owner’s Association (AOA) to see what my limitations are. Do you recommend that? Apartment associations are a great resource for landlords. You can also get lots of info online. Property owners as well as real estate professionals are required to practice fair housing and comply with all relevant laws. You can obtain information at www.hud.gov.
I welcome any feedback or additional suggestions.
