Hurst Home Realty likes to arrive at our appointments early enough to turn on lights, heat or A/C, ceiling fans, and open blinds or drapes. Then meet the prospective tenant as they drive up and watch for these indications:
Did they arrive on time?
This is an indicator of how timely they will pay their rent. If they are late and acknowledge it, be very forgiving. If they don't even acknowledge that they're late, it's very unlikely that we will rent to them.
Did they park on the correct side of the road?
This is an indicator of the applicants respect (or lack thereof) for the law. Respect for the law is an important ingredient to resolving any future disputes with the tenant.
Is their car clean?
The cleanliness of the car can be an indicator of how well a prospective tenant will take care of your property.
Is the applicant personally neat and clean?
This can also be a helpful indicator of how well a prospective tenant will keep the property.
ONCE YOU'VE SHOWN THE PROPERTY
We always offer every prospective tenant an application. Even if we don't think you would rent to them, it is imperative that you give everyone an equal chance to apply, so that you don't violate any fair housing laws.
When a perspective tenant accepts a rental application, we verify their identification with their drivers’ license and social security card. This is important to insure that the information on the application (and credit report) is really for the person that is applying. We also ask if they can verify their income with a current pay stub.
We collect an application and an application fee from every adult that would like to live in the house.
We take a few minutes to explain our screening process and how long the applicant can expect to wait for an answer. We explain that we do not work on a first come first served basis with applications we choose the applicant that we feel is the best qualified for our owners.
We also provide the prospective tenant a written guideline with our application that explains our process and expectations.