In today’s world, it is no mystery that nearly everyone is glued to electronic devices. Dependent upon phones, laptops, and tablets, the electronic age has provided us with easy access to everything we need. From job applications, which are now almost always online, and resumes that have moved to LinkedIn, the internet is driving us into a paperless world. We receive electronic bills that we pay with the click of a button, and we purchase fridges that email us when we’re out of milk.
In this increasingly electronic world, why is it that landlords still have physical paper applications? The landlord relationship is still locked into an age of paper and snail mail. Landlords are usually using outdated methodologies for one of two reasons; they’ve always done it that way, or they haven’t explored the ease of using online applications. For many landlords, they are simply doing it the way they have always done it, unaware of the importance of moving their applications into the modern world.
So why exactly should you be taking advantage of online rental applications? Find out the answers below and check out this free online application for landlords, complete with a tenant screening process.
Keeping Things Secure
Security is a hot topic in the modern world. With the prevalence of identity theft, many people guard their social security numbers and other identifying factors with extreme care. In competitive rental markets, tenants may apply to multiple properties before securing one.
Security, therefore, becomes important to you as a landlord for two reasons.
- Your Liability: Anyone with access to a rental application has the renter’s Social Security Number and other personally identifiable information. As the landlord, you are technically responsible for the security of that information. It’s a burden, and potential liability, and one you don’t have to bear. Free rental applications through this online program don’t require a SSN.
- Better Applicant Pool: Because identity theft is a real threat to most savvy rental applicants, you can wind up limiting the number of potential tenants willing to apply to your property. When you are using an online rental application through trusted landlord software, you will tap into a greater number of potential tenants. Applicants are already familiar with online forms and trust their data in the hands of a credible service far more than they will trust handing their personal information on paper to a person they don’t know.
Faster Process With Fewer Steps
Think about this. If you saw two checkout lines at the store, one was long, backed up, and the employee working was painfully slow at their job, and one was short, moving quickly, and operated by a speedy employee, which checkout line would you choose? This is, obviously, a rhetorical question, as no one wants to subject themselves to a long line or process if avoidable.
In the same way, implementing a free online rental application will cut down on time and the steps needed to get a new tenant into your rental property. For the applicant, this is appealing, as they have less hassle to deal with. The potential tenant enters the information, and property managers have it all right there to send off for credit bureaus and background checks.
Keeping Your Life Organized
With the rare exception of a few people, most of us struggle to keep paperwork well organized. When you use a free rental application form online, you can say goodbye to filing away copious amounts of paperwork. With online applications, there’s simply no need to invest in a massive filing drawer. You have everything you need linked in one place to both the property and the tenant. If you are a new landlord, it is important to start off on the right foot with organization.
Although you may only have one property you are renting currently, you might wind up with more properties down the road. The longer you are in the business of being a landlord, the more important your organization will become.
For example, did you have someone you’ve turned down before? No need to scramble through tons of files because that name sounds familiar. You can quickly toggle through an easy online system and see exactly who has applied to each property you own, and whether you have ever reviewed their application.
Simply Put, Tenants Expect It
As a landlord, the vast majority of the populace to whom you will be renting are tech-savvy millennials. To anyone born after 1985, filling out a paper application is more than a little jarring, it’s antiquated and off-putting. Savvy tenants are deeply rooted in protecting their identities and ensuring their transactions are completely secure. When you ask your applicants to then put down all their personally identifiable information on paper, you will find many simply refuse to do it. Frankly, why should they? With so many landlords turning to free tenant rental applications online, potential applicants will simply click past your listing in search of a landlord who is connected to technology.
When you switch to an online rental application you will not only increase the number of potential tenants willing to apply to your property, you’ll attract a better grade of tenants.
Not only do tenants want to be able to handle an application online due to ease of use and security, it also is a signal to them about how easy it will be to work with you going forward. If applying for your property is tedious and antiquated, they will assume the entirety of working with you will be similar. In a busy and digital world, tenants want to rent from someone who will make their life easier, not more complex. Savvy landlords use online rental applications, making things easier for everyone involved.
Sign Up Today For Our Free Services
The good news is that finding a free rental application that implements an online portal is simple. In fact, you have already arrived. It may seem too good to be true, but our services truly are 100 percent free for landlords to use. You can sign up today with no need to give us credit card information or any other payment method because there is no cost to any of our services for you.
Signing up is simple and will provide you with not only the ability to accept applications online for free but will also provide you with free rental marketing online and background, credit and eviction checks, as well.
