Real Estate Investing: Using MySpace to Screen Tenants

People often don't realize who reads what they're putting online. For the first year at my first real job I would sometimes have to go through resumes for interns and temps. I couldn't believe that someone would put their goofy email address on a resume. I mean, if the email you use is drunkgirl69@hotmail.com, don't you think you should create another account with your real name for job-hunting purposes? Anyway, it was a quick trick I used to reduce the large pile of resumes to a small pile.

Today, I have many more opportunities to find out information about someone. I can, and do, Google their name, email address, and phone number. Sometimes I find out something that makes me not want to rent to the applicant. One woman e-mailed me with a rather unique e-mail address. I Googled it real quick before replying and found that she had been placing ads on Craigslist offering her "erotic' services. I can only imagine that going on in my building. She didn't get a reply e-mail from me.

My favorite thing to do to learn about a potential tenant is to check to see if they have a MySpace account. Well over half of all the applicants I've had do. Earlier this summer, when I was taking applications for my available garden apartment, I narrowed it down to two couples. The men each had MySpace accounts. One of the accounts talked about how much the guy loved his wife, how hard he works, what his evenings are like (quiet), and how his daughter is his pride and joy. The other applicant's account talked about how much he loves to party with his friends, how he likes blasting his music, and how much he loves his girlfriend. Well, kudos to him for loving his girlfriend, but it was an easy decision.

By checking MySpace I was able to learn about the applicant's lifestyle, work ethic, and family life. Neither of the applicants probably ever thought that a landlord would check their accounts, yet I was able to gather enough information to make a very informed decision on whom to offer the apartment to. By the way, the guy who moved into the apartment is now my handyman and his wife takes care of collecting rent checks for me.

Okay, you're living under a rock, how do you use MySpace to do this background check? First, if you don't already have an account, create one. You don't have to put any information on it. You just need it to look at other profiles. You're now what's called a lurker. Login and go to the search tab. Click on the e-mail button and put in the e-mail address given to you on the application or the one used when they responded to your ad. If nothing comes up, don't give up. Click on the name button and put in their name. If too many of them show up, filter your search using the box on the upper right hand corner of the page. You can limit the search within a certain number of miles from the zip code they used in their application. The applicant's profile may show up as private. If so, tough luck for you. Most of them aren't private, though, so feel free to read their page, look at their pictures, look at the comments left, and check out their friends. You'll be able to find out just about all you need to know to determine if they'd be a good tenant or not.

If you're a landlord and you're not using MySpace as a way to check potential tenants, you're missing out on a great tool. You may feel Nixonian, but the money you save from not having to deal with evictions and damage should help you get over it.