Good Landlords do 80% of their screening just by listening to you. They will ask a question and see your response. They may ask the same question and see if your response changes or if it seems to hit a bad chord in you.
For example, I often ask, “What has your experiences with Landlords been in the past.”
If the perspective tenant gets defensive, I will go into depth a bit more and later in the conversation ask, “Did you do something about your Landlord problem?”
This conversation tells me a lot. It verifies information and truths. It sees where the negative emotion is hidden.
The other thing people inadvertently do is complain about something that they are actually doing. I had a guy that was so adamant about not being in a building if there was ANY drug problems. Upon a bit of screening, he ended up being a severe alcoholic and I found out later O.D.ed on crack!
If a tenant tells me a Landlord kicked them out of their current place, I know I am only getting half a story but would not consider this a serious rental prospect!
So what is the lesson for tenants? Talk in positive terms. Landlords would rather hear someone say, “How are the rest of the tenants in the building?” instead of “are there drug dealers around here?”.
For Landlords the lesson is ask as many questions as is necessary. Doesn’t matter the question, just look for the emotion it creates. I used to base my hiring decisions off the question, “Tell me about something you are proud of”. This one question reveals volumes about someone.
For example, I often ask, “What has your experiences with Landlords been in the past.”
If the perspective tenant gets defensive, I will go into depth a bit more and later in the conversation ask, “Did you do something about your Landlord problem?”
This conversation tells me a lot. It verifies information and truths. It sees where the negative emotion is hidden.
The other thing people inadvertently do is complain about something that they are actually doing. I had a guy that was so adamant about not being in a building if there was ANY drug problems. Upon a bit of screening, he ended up being a severe alcoholic and I found out later O.D.ed on crack!
If a tenant tells me a Landlord kicked them out of their current place, I know I am only getting half a story but would not consider this a serious rental prospect!
So what is the lesson for tenants? Talk in positive terms. Landlords would rather hear someone say, “How are the rest of the tenants in the building?” instead of “are there drug dealers around here?”.
For Landlords the lesson is ask as many questions as is necessary. Doesn’t matter the question, just look for the emotion it creates. I used to base my hiring decisions off the question, “Tell me about something you are proud of”. This one question reveals volumes about someone.
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