How to find the best deals, be first in line, and win them without stress.
In this article, I’ll explain a few tips on how to have a more effective and less stressful rental home shopping experience.
Power Tip #1: Know when new rental listings come on the market.
Why?
The best deals are snatched up by someone within a few days of coming on the market… or even in a few hours. The renters who are aware of when these homes become available are the ones who can see them first.
How do I become aware of when new rental listings become available?
Talk to a real estate agent. If you tell an agent what you’re looking for, they can send you a list of all the publicly available homes listed by all the real estate management companies. The system will also automatically send you updates every time a new listing becomes available.
Properties come and go every day. If you have a Realtor sending you automatic updates, you’re more likely to see the home before other people. This is how you find the best deals.
Power Tip #2: Bring your “wallet” when you go shopping for homes.
What do you mean?
Some people look at homes and then when they see the house they want, they start getting everything together. Other people prepare as much as possible, and then go “shopping” once they have everything ready to apply for a home.
If 2 or more people see the same home, but only one has everything ready to apply on the spot, that prepared person can easily apply first and get first dibs. They are usually processed first and other applicants will not be processed unless this first applicant is rejected or cancels the lease. This is applicable for at least 9 out of 10 rental listings I’ve seen so far.
Going to see homes without being prepared to apply is like going shopping on Black Friday without your wallet. You may find an amazing deal, but by the time you go home, find your wallet, and drive back to the store, someone else who took some time to prepare ahead of time may have already snatched it up.
For tips on how to “bring your wallet”, please read the next section.
Bringing your wallet: Here are easy things you can do to prepare your “wallet” before going shopping. If you want to have first dibs on the good deals, I advise you to bring the following items with you when you go looking at homes:
- Proof of Income (1 or more of the following)
- 1 month of pay stubs (Strongest proof of income)
- Or… 2 months of bank statements (should show balances and deposits)
- Or… Last year’s tax returns
- Or… A Letter of employment if you are in a cash business or were just hired recently
- This is the thing that most people procrastinate the most in. If you have this early, you’re way ahead of your competition.
- General Rental Application printed and filled out by all applicants
- This is provided on my website in the menu under renting or by clicking here, with clear instructions on each page for filling it out and signing and initials, usable for most rental properties. Please fill out as much as you can.
- When it asks for income, please make sure to write your gross monthly income (monthly income before taxes are taken out) instead of yearly income or hourly wage. Owners base your income qualification off your gross monthly income. The total gross income of all applicants should be at least 3 times monthly rent.
- Some managers have a custom application but still ask for the same information. If you already have the general one filled out, a custom one can easily be filled in. The most likely delay when filling out an app is retrieving information from your landlord or place of employment.
- If you don’t have a printer, please read over the information that the application asks for and make sure you have all the information on hand with you.
- Cash for app fees, at least $50-$75 in cash per person. I would keep it in 10’s and 5’s if possible, since it is more flexible
- The time it takes you to get to the bank could be just the amount of time the other guy needs to cut in front of you. I have seen people lose their dream home because they were later than the other person by 30 minutes, 10 minutes, even 5 minutes
- Some people may feel it’s a hassle to grab cash before seeing homes. I feel it’s more of a hassle to rush to an ATM after you see the perfect home and stress out about possibly being too late… when you could have had it with you already by just dropping by an ATM earlier.
If you have all those things ready, you can be relaxed knowing that if you see a home that’s ready, you can apply for it immediately instead of running around trying to get everything together and worrying if someone else will cut in front of you. You’ll have more peace of mind.
If you’re fully prepared, you stand at the beginning of the line for every home you see. You can apply for whatever you see as soon as you make the decision.
Power Tip #3: Be Up Front With Your Background and Credit
Why should I tell them everything?
The manager/owner is going to do a full credit, background, and rental history check and find out everything that you know and probably more. By the time they finish processing your application, you’ve already paid good application fee money and stressed out for a few days about whether you’d get approved or not.
I advise you to let the Realtor or Property Manager/Owner know as much as possible about your situation before you shell out $50+/person in app fees. Owners are generally wary or hesitant to rent to someone with any of the following:
- Any negative rental history or having no official rental history at all
- Unpaid collections or late payments on your credit.
- Credit scores under 650
- You can check your credit for free here: www.creditkarma.com
- Any negative background or criminal history
- Pets (some homeowners and condo complexes usually don’t allow dogs over 25 lbs, and some owners don’t like cats)
If you have any of the above, please be upfront and tell the Realtor you are working with, or the manager/owner if you are working directly with them.
- The more information you provide before putting in the application and fees, the better picture the owner can have of you and let you know how likely you are to be approved or not. Your Realtor can disclose this information ahead of time and make sure you’re not wasting your time visiting a home or applying for a home where the owner won’t consider your application.
- If they’re unlikely to approve you, wouldn’t you rather know this before you put in money and wait a few days stressing out before you are likely rejected?
- Would you have more peace of mind putting in your app and fees if the manager/owner knows your situation, understands, and tells you, “There should be no problem as long as everything is as you say is true and nothing else significantly negative comes up”?
Figuring out if the owner is likely or unlikely to approve you before applying is how you can win without stress.
I hope this article helped you understand a little more about the rental home hunting process.
Have a great day! 🙂