It's not my goal to question your motive for renting, but don't make the mistake of not being proactive about screening potential renters. It's imperative that you screen NOW to avoid the headaches later. Trust me. You don't want a bad renter. I think most experienced landlords would agree in most instances it is preferable to have a vacant house than a lousy renter.

Can you network or find an investor's association in VA? You might be able to find a manager who can help you fill the vacancy. Otherwise, I think you need a credit report, at minimum. However, you need to research how to run credit reports if you don't have original signed applications. This could be no issue, though.

Of course, I'm going to run credit reports on prospective tenants. That's what I did with the current tenants too. I'm not gonna let some deadbeat move in. As I mentioned previously, a recent bankruptcy with otherwise excellent payment and rental history doesn't bother me too much. But someone with a good income who's late on rent twice recently, well, that's a problem. My current tenants, as much as they lie to and play games with me, have always paid and almost always within the first five days of the month. I know the husband lost his job and the wife is a new stay-at-home mom. So they could have easily told me to eff off and would have been moved to TX before I could have gotten them evicted. But they managed to keep paying rent. So I can't complain too much.

FWIW I just never had to use CL... I used local newspaper ads that also get posted online.

Maybe I have read too many funny stories about CL, don't use it much myself.

Ok, got another prospect here. Not sure if this is a story or not. My nextdoor neighbor showed her the place today. He said she seemed very normal, didn't smell like cigarettes and was very nice.

Here's her last email to me when I sent her the rental app. and asked about her credit before I pull it:

Honestly, my credit isn't the best however, I have not had any problems paying my rent over a 9 year span. There are some issues paying a few bills but rent is not one of them. When you call my last and most previous landlords they will tell you I have NEVER been late with my rent.

XXXXX XXXXX it the last rental property I lived for 5 years. After that, I leased from private owners. My divorce left me unable to catch up on things but I am working it out very well now.

It would me myself, my 14 year-old daughter and my fiance' who will assist me with the rent. We have a beautiful relationship, most importantly, we would be good tenants who can pay the rent, enjoy the space, be great neighbors and will keep the place in excellent shape. We are tidy and clean which should be a big plus.

We work hard and would love to have a nice place to live showing the fruits of our labor. (Fiance) has a full and part-time job. I work full-time and attend XXXXX Univ. part-time. I have been employed with XXXX for 10 years in June...I see us as ideal tenants that will give you no hassles but the only way to find that out is to give us a try. Lastly, (daughter) is my pride and joy who is really sweet. My goal is to keep her in Fairfax County Schools where she has been receiving a great education.

Feel free to ask me anything that will make you feel comfortable renting to us. I have attached pictures of me with (daughter) and (fiance)...I know this is not required but figured it would not be such a bad idea either...

I know there are a lot more people with bad credit now than there were a few years ago. I am pretty good at reading credit reports from my mortgage biz days and feel I know what speaks to one's character and what does not. We'll see when I get the app. tomorrow.

That's what I would do... proceed with caution. But there is next to nobody that I wouldn't use caution with.

Don't believe much, except hard numbers and references...

One of my tenants is leaving tomorrow. After 2 years, every wall needs to be painted, carpet is torn, and she was a relatively "good" tenant. I explained to her that I have to keep $250 of her security deposit (1/3 cost to paint, repair carpet, etc). This previously nice lady spent 1 hour yelling, crying, telling me how horrible the house and neighborhood were (they aren't), etc. Then she started telling me how her son got asthma attacks because we painted a wall she damaged.... Then, she was going to sue me because water leaked from a tub she plugged, and damaged her belongings...

I decided $250 wasn't worth the anguish, and time to go to court...

And, this is fairly typical...

Landlording is not for the weak...

I always look under housing wanted.
That way i can pre-screen without being accused of prejudice, in whatever form.
I have never had a problem; great tenants, doing it this way,

We just through a 3 month stint of house rental not occupied. We had an application that asked lots of questions.

Here fill this out and bring it back.

20 applicants no returned apps

finally someone brought it back with deposit and rent in cash. we gave them the keys and have been VERY happy with them. we renewed the lease for another 6 months.

Man, just had to turn down someone I know was gonna be bad. He said his credit was trashed from a divorce, but that he hadn't been late on rent ever and had been in the same place for the last five years. After guiding him by phone to my place while he drove, and having to repeat my house number so many times that I was having to try to be polite about it, he went on about how the place was in bad shape and asked if I could let him do some work for me in lieu of rent. He's a contractor and said he could install new carpets and do some painting. Uh huh. He asked if I could work with him the deposit. I said his bad credit meant I was gonna need 2-3 mos. deposit at minimum. He abruptly wished me luck and hung up. Got a good one coming tomorrow night though, in the same situation I was in when I left VA and he sounds very interested.

I have had the same renter for almost seven years...she lost her job last year and we fronted the rent for eight months. No rent.

When you rent it is as much about what you are willing to put up with as the rent check. Never forget there are families involved. Renting is not for the faint of heart.

She is catching up. I settled on helping her because I like her, understand her struggles. She is working again, is eternally grateful and has worked other projects on the farm while she looked for work.

I know many of you think I'm a puss for bridging this womans gap in employment, enabling. I don't.

Paul, I assume she's renting on your farm, which is a little different than my situation. If you still have a mortgage payment, it's the same whether you rent out a room or guesthouse or not and you probably don't rely on the rent to make your mortgage payment. My property is 2400 miles away and every dime I don't collect in rent, I have to pay in mortgage. Even at current rental price, I'll still be losing $250 a month on this place and that's if I get it rented out in the next 10 days. After May 1, I eat $2k a month until I get a tenant.

BTW, previous tenants totally skipped on April rent and have ignored my attempts to contact them. Looks like I'm keeping that deposit in full. Anyone know how to print out text messages? I probably need to keep them for evidence.

Yep. I am thrilled when someone fills out every line of the application. My last tenant had a lousy score, but everything on his application was accurate. His employer spoke highly of him, and he had his current job for 6 years. Tenant was truthful about his divorce, and other issues...thats 99% of the battle.

I have found that lately, 95% of applicants have absolutely crappy credit scores...

"I'm a contractor" = "I'm out of work right now or (at best) have no reliable income"

In way too many instances. Sad but true these days.

What brand of phone? Do you have a USB cable that will connect it to your computer? There is some pretty good software out there for the purposes of backing up absolutely everything from Nokias.

I have the AT&T Blackberry Bold 9700. I tried hooking it up to my laptop, but no dice and no instructions on how to download or save text messages. I can, however, save them on my SIM card, which I've done. I suspect I'll never hear from the tenants again, which is fine.

If it's a blackberry, just select the text and forward it to yourself as an email. When you select forward, it should give you an option as to the format (sms, bb pin or email). At least that's what mine does (os 4.2 - a bit old).

christiens right

easy to convert text to email

you can do it with pics people text you as well.

keep looking for the right tenant. they are out there

I can't select the text. There's really nothing I can do with it except delete or mark as unopened.

Worst case scenario - take a pic of your phone's screen?