Prequalifying

One of the many handy-dandy things I have learned from Jack is the power of prequalification. In the past when I had a vacant home, I would run an ad in the newspaper and hope for the best.

Generally that netted me endless voice mails from a good portion of Birmingham's soon-to-be-homeless who were willing to divulge their life story for a chance to rent my home. It also took up a lot of my time listening to Birmingham's soon-to-be-homeless.

Jack gave me a great idea the very first time we met: leave a voice mail greeting with all the particulars and tell those whom I have no interest in renting to not leave a message. This cut down on my time and energy, though there are still an optimistic few who seem to be in denial about my whole process. Generally those are the ones who leave me messages saying, "What is the rent and the deposits?" "Do you accept pets?" All of which is clearly outlined on my voicemail.

In fact, my voice mail right now says something like,

"Thank you for calling about my awesomely wonderful home. I think you will love this three bedroom, two and a half bath beauty. It has a fenced back yard, a two car garage and hardwood floors. The rent is this much. The deposits are that much. There is also a credit application of x amount. That is a total of this much money to move in.

If you have had a short sale or a foreclosure recently, please don't let that stop you from applying to rent. I am happy to talk with you. If you have been evicted, just hang up now. That goes double for those of you with pets or those of you who think I want a Section 8 tenant. The address is 123 Main Street. You are welcome to drive by, if then want to set an appointment to see the interior, feel free to leave a message."

I have had wonderful success with this method in the past. But now I am going a step further. My application now includes the following: "Do you own a lawn mower? Do you own a vacuum cleaner? Do you own a screwdriver?"

As I write this, I wonder who will be responding to my request--if anyone. The first week of looking for a tenant is always the best. It is full of joyful hope and anticipation. I always believe the right tenant is out there RIGHT NOW looking for a place to call home and it will be a snap to rent out. However, usually by the fourth week, my voice mail will say, "If you have a pulse, leave a message."

Hopefully I won't need to worry about week four.