When the subject of rental real estate comes up in conversation, I sometimes hear people say; " When my new house is done, I'm going to rent my old one out and make a killing". I often think to myself, these people have no idea they are going to get killed, not make a killing. They have no experience, no education, and no chance of making it. I usualy try to help them out with some free info, and I thought you guys would like some, too. First, a rental is not like a home you live in, it is a business deal. Many  people buy and fix up a home based on emotions, especialy one they have lived in. When they rent that house out, they expect the tenant to have the same emotional connection. When the tenant does not, the new landlords are offended. The tenant may decorate differently, or leave the kitchen light on all the time. We as landlords must be flexible with these little differences.

The next novice mistake is not checking out the character of prospective tenants. My wife and I have learned all these lessons the hard way, by making mistakes and learning from them. You will make mistakes, too. The important thing is to keep going and keep improving how you do things to minimize the mistakes. First, use an application to collect info from your prospects. We bought a small pack of applications from an office supply store and then modified the wording to fit our needs. Every time we had a problem, we tweeked the application to address the issue. Call all the referances on the app, but don't stop there. Most people put down references who will give a good report. Good reports are ok, but we want to know about the bad stuff. Call there old landlord, they may tell you the truth, but they may lie to get rid of the tenant. Call the elecric and gas company. They will usually let you know how faithful the prospect is at paying the bill. If they don't pay them, they won't pay you.

Next, run your prospect through your State's court access website. It is not as good as a real background check, but it's cheaper, and almost as good. The Wisconsin site is free, and open to the public. Look for evictions, judgements, and criminal destruction of property. Drinking, drugs and domestic violence convictions can spell trouble, too. I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, just good sense from a landlord who has paid the price. You are not discriminating against them if they have valid rental history issues. You should document each contact in their file to protect yourself. More next time, The Preacher