Your rental, filled with the right tenant — without the runaround.
Thinking about renting out your property? This is the whole process in one place: what I do, what I take off your plate, how screening works, what it costs, and the few decisions I need from you before we start. Read it before we talk and our first conversation takes ten minutes. We can get going today — I can have your property listed by tomorrow.
That's the entire fee — paid to the brokerage once your tenant is placed. No upfront cost to list.
The security deposit is your tenant's money held by you — it never comes to me or the brokerage.
I find and screen the strongest applicants and package them up for you. You approve who signs.
Everything handled. You just approve the tenant.
Renting a property out has about forty small jobs in it — pricing, photos, listings, inquiries, showings, applications, background checks, paperwork, keys. I do all of them. Your job is exactly two things: give me your criteria up front, and say yes or no when I bring you a qualified tenant.
What I take off your plate
- Pricing — I research comparable rentals so we list at a number that fills the home fast without leaving money on the table
- Professional photography — scheduled right away, because photos are the listing
- The listing itself — written up and posted to the MLS and the major rental sites
- Every inquiry and showing request — answered, scheduled, and shown
- Screening — applications, credit, background, and verification through RentSpree
- The back-and-forth — questions, documents, and follow-ups with applicants
- The lease — drawn up, sent for signature, and pushed to signed fast
- Move-in coordination — deposit, first month's rent, and key handoff
What stays on your plate
- Your criteria — pets, credit minimum, income minimum (tab 2 makes this take five minutes)
- Getting the home ready — cleaned and in good working order before photos and before move-in
- The final yes — you approve the tenant I bring you
- Being reachable at decision time — when a great tenant is ready, we move that day
That's the whole list. And no — I don't need to come to your house to get started. We can begin on a call today; I'll meet you at the property when it's time for photos.
The process, step by step
We set your criteria
Before anything goes live, you tell me your lines: pets or no pets, minimum credit score, minimum income, lease term, security deposit. Those criteria go into the listing and get applied the same way to every applicant. If you're not sure where to set them, tab 2 shows what landlords commonly choose.
Before we listPrep and professional photos
Get the property clean and showing its best — that's the single biggest factor in how fast it rents and for how much. Then I get professional photography scheduled ASAP. Good photos plus a clean home is what gets the right people through the door.
Day 1–2Listed and marketed
Your property goes live on the MLS and the major rental sites, priced from real comparables. From the moment you say go, this can happen by tomorrow — the only thing that sets the pace is getting the home photo-ready.
As fast as tomorrowShowings — qualified people only
I get as many good people through the door as I can, and I never send someone through who isn't qualified. Renters who have their own agent can request to show it too, and I let them — the risk there is very low, because a renter's agent isn't going to burn their own time and gas on a client who can't qualify.
While it's liveScreening — I package it, you decide
Every applicant is screened through RentSpree: credit report and score, criminal background check, eviction history, plus income and employment verification and rental history. I do the digging, then I package the strongest applicants up cleanly and send them to you to qualify. You get the full picture in one summary — not a play-by-play of every phone call, unless you want one. Just ask and I'll walk you through every step as it happens.
RentSpree screeningLease signed — fast
The moment you pick your tenant, the goal is simple: get the lease signed ASAP, deposit in, move-in set. That's another place I earn my fee — I keep the paperwork moving the same day so a great tenant doesn't drift to another property while forms sit in an inbox.
The finish lineThe one rule that matters most: time is of the essence
When a fully qualified tenant is in front of you and you want them, we move that day. Great tenants are looking at several homes at once, and they sign with whoever gets a lease in front of them first. Every day a good applicant sits unanswered is a day they can sign somewhere else — and every day the home sits empty is a month of rent you'll never get back. Fast doesn't mean sloppy: the screening has already been done by the time an applicant reaches you.
Start the tenancy on the right foot
Before move-in, make sure everything in the unit is in working order — appliances, plumbing, locks, lights, all of it — and I strongly recommend a professional clean, even if the home already looks fine.
Here's why: on move-in day your tenant is hoping this place is as good as it looked. They're a little on edge until they've settled in and seen that everything works. A spotless home where everything functions tells them they chose well — and tenants who start out trusting their landlord tend to take better care of the home and stay longer. It's the cheapest goodwill you'll ever buy.
Your criteria, decided once — before we list
Every landlord question I get asked about an applicant — "do they have a dog?" "what's their score?" — comes back to criteria that were never written down. Set yours now and screening becomes simple: applicants either clear your lines or they don't, and the same lines apply to everyone, every time. Tap your answers below — each one shows what landlords commonly choose — then copy the summary and text it to me.
Pets
Decide now, not per-applicant — mid-stream exceptions are where fair-housing trouble starts. Commonly seen: case-by-case with a pet deposit or monthly pet rent.
Minimum credit score
A score is one piece of the picture — I also weigh income, rental history, and what's actually in the report. Commonly seen: 650–680.
Minimum income
Stated as a multiple of the monthly rent, verified with pay stubs and employment checks. Commonly seen: 3× the rent in gross monthly income.
Lease term
Longer terms mean fewer turnovers — and turnover is where landlords actually lose money. Commonly seen: 12 months to start.
Smoking
Smoke damage is one of the most expensive things to remediate between tenants. Commonly seen: no smoking inside.
Security deposit
You collect and hold the deposit — it stays yours to hold, not the brokerage's. Commonly seen: one month's rent (also the legal cap in Maryland and DC).
Your criteria, ready to send
Text this to me, or just bring it to our call. Either way, once I have it, we're ready to list.
The big picture, before you set those numbers
Two things landlords don't always weigh: every month your home sits empty costs a full month of rent — money no future tenant ever pays back — and the strictest criteria in the neighborhood shrink your applicant pool fast. A 700 score plus 3.5× income plus no pets might feel safer, but if it adds three weeks of vacancy, it cost more than it protected. My job is to help you set lines that protect you and keep the home filled. We can talk through the trade-offs in ten minutes.
The fee, plain and simple
No percentages to decode, no add-ons, nothing buried. The fee is the first month's rent — charged by me and our brokerage, once, when your tenant is placed and the lease is signed.
Where that fee goes
The first month's rent covers the entire placement: pricing, the listing, photography coordination, marketing, every showing, the full RentSpree screening, the packaged applicant summaries, and the lease coordination that gets it signed fast.
If your tenant came in with their own renter's agent, I pay that agent's fee out of mine. It's covered — it never becomes an extra cost to you.
What the fee is not
- Not taken from your security deposit — the deposit is yours, held by you
- Not a monthly charge — it's one time, at placement
- Not due if no tenant is placed — no lease signed, no fee
- Not property management — after move-in, rent runs between you and your tenant unless we set up management separately. Ask me if you want that conversation.
One honest comparison
A month of vacancy costs exactly the same as my fee — one month's rent — except vacancy buys you nothing: no screening, no marketing, no lease, and the home is still empty at the end of it. The fee buys the work that ends the vacancy.
Questions every landlord asks
The short answers, the way I'd give them on the phone. Anything else on your mind — text me and ask.
As fast as tomorrow. Once you say go, I schedule professional photography right away, write the listing, and put it live on the MLS and the major rental sites. The only real variable is the home itself — it needs to be clean and photo-ready, because that's what good tenants respond to.
No. We can get everything moving on a call today — criteria, pricing, paperwork. I'll meet you at the property when it's time for photos and showings. If you'd rather meet in person first, I'm glad to. Either way works; neither slows us down.
One month's rent, once, when the lease is signed — that's the brokerage fee, and it covers everything on this page. There is no cost to list. You collect and keep the security deposit. If your tenant has their own agent, that agent's fee comes out of mine, not on top of it. Tab 3 runs the numbers with your rent.
Every applicant applies and is screened through RentSpree: a full credit report and score, a criminal background check, and an eviction history check. On top of that I verify income and employment and check rental history, and I measure everything against the criteria you set in tab 2 — applied the same way to every applicant, which keeps the process fair and defensible.
Not unless you want to. Most landlords prefer it this way: I do the sifting and send you the qualified applicants, packaged up with everything you need to decide — no play-by-play of every inquiry and phone call in between. If you're the kind of owner who wants every update as it happens, say the word and I'll keep you posted step by step.
You do. I find the strongest people, screen them hard, and bring you the ones who clear your criteria with the full picture attached. The final yes is always yours — it's your property.
That happens often, and it's fine — their agent can request a showing and I'll let them show it. The risk is low: renter's agents work on commission, so they're not going to spend their time and gas showing homes to people who can't qualify. And if that tenant is placed, their agent's fee comes out of my fee.
Because a fully qualified tenant is the prize every landlord in the area is chasing, and they don't stay available long. When you have one in front of you, the goal is a signed lease as fast as possible — same day when we can. Waiting a few days "to think about it" is how landlords lose the tenant they wanted and restart the vacancy clock.
Before photos: clean it well and make it show its best — decluttered, bright, everything working. Before move-in: confirm everything is in working order, and I strongly recommend a professional clean even if it looks fine. Your tenant arrives hoping the home is as good as it seemed. A spotless, fully working home starts the relationship with trust, and that pays you back in care and renewals.
Especially for you. Investors with ten doors use this exact process too — the difference is they've seen what a bad placement costs. The criteria, the screening, and the fast lease are what protect you, and I'll walk you through each decision the first time so it makes sense, not just this time but for every tenant after.
This guide covers placement — finding, screening, and signing your tenant. After move-in, rent is paid through whatever channel you and your tenant set up, and day-to-day landlord life runs between the two of you. If you'd rather have management handled too, ask me and we'll talk through your options.
Fill this out — I'll review it and give you a call.
Sixty seconds, tops. Tell me about the property and what you're hoping for, and your answers come straight to me along with the criteria you set in tab 2. I'll take a quick review and call you back — no meeting needed to get started.
We can have your property listed by tomorrow.
No meeting required to start. Here's all it takes:
- Fill out the form above — your property details and criteria come straight to me, and I'll review them and give you a call.
- Or call or text me with the property address — two minutes.
- Get the home clean and photo-ready — I schedule professional photography right away, and we go live.