There are two types of people who you typically deal with when managing a rental property. These are prospects (people who are not yet renting from you but might be in the future) and tenants (people who are currently leasing a unit from you). Both can be managed using the Streamline platform. This article will cover managing prospects and how to use our platform to streamline your onboarding process.
On the left navigation, start by expanding the People option, then choose either Prospects.
Managing Prospects
Prospects can be created in one of two ways. The first is simply navigating to the prospects page, clicking the Create Prospect button, and adding their information.
The other way they can be created is by the prospect uploading their own information to the site, from the 3rd party site application link. This is a link that can be added to a 3rd party site where you are advertising your unit or given directly to them when they message you about the apartment. A prospect can click that link, which leads to our website. Upon landing on our website, they will be prompted to enter in their contact information.
Accessing Your 3rd Party Application Link
To access this application link, create a property and then save it. Once it has been saved, click on the pencil icon to edit it. From here, either scroll down to the Manage Viewing Availability section or collapse the top section, then check the Has Upcoming Availability checkbox.
This will activate all of the controls in this section. You can copy this application link from here and paste it anywhere you’d like. We also recommend that you send it to anyone who inquires about your property over text or any other messaging service.
We’ll cover how the rest of the Manage Viewing Availability section works here.
Prospect Entering Their Information
When a prospect clicks that link, they will be able to enter in their information.
Once they click the Submit button, a new prospect record can be found on your prospects page. Also, you will receive an email notification.
Prospect Documents
A prospect can have a set of documents associated with them. Typically, these would be application forms that they can fill out, when applying to lease a unit from you. First, we need to briefly touch on the blank document repository.
Blank Document Repository
This is a repository of blank documents that you can upload to the platform which will streamline your prospect application process. This page can be found under Rental Agreements / Manage Blank Documents on the left navigation.
Navigate to this page and upload a file. A great example is a blank application form that a prospect needs to fill out when applying to lease your unit. Once the file has been uploaded, you can set the Document Group. Right now, the only option is Application Package.
Managing Prospect Documents
Whenever a new prospect is created (either manually or through the 3rd party application link), a new copy of all of the Application Package documents will be added to the prospect’s documents.
To view the prospect documents, go to the prospects page and click on the documents button in the action column.
From here, you are able to send these documents to the prospect, so that they may review and sign them. They can even upload the signed version back to the platform, so they don’t have to physically drop them off or email them.
You can toggle the Signature Required option if you’d like. You would leave this enabled for a document that requires a signature and unchecked for a document that doesn’t but is just for information purposes. You can also upload new documents for this individual prospect and download the current version of the document by using the button in the Action column
Click the Send All Documents button to email a download link to the prospect, so they can review these files.
Prospect Signing and Uploading Documents
After you click the Send All Documents link, the prospect will receive an email which invites them to download these files.
The prospect is now able to download all files that have been sent to them, as well as upload a signed version of any file that requires a signature.
Once all files that require signatures are uploaded, you are automatically notified with an email notification. In the prospect documents dialog, you’ll be able to see the newly signed files.
You have the option of keeping all files or deleting the blank version. To delete a file, simply use the select box on the left and click the Trash icon that appears.
Running a Tenant Verification Report
Now that the prospect has uploaded the application files, if you’re happy with these, we strongly urge you to run a Tenant Verification Report. This is a report package we provide which fully validates the prospect’s identification, runs a Softcheck report looking for any criminal history, and performs a credit check.
Since you’re getting into a serious financial arrangement with this person, we think its best for you know who you’re dealing with. We go over the Tenant Verification Reports more here, but for this guide, we simply wanted to point out that you can request one directly from the prospect page. Please note that you’ll have to have added at least one payment method in order to be able to purchase this.
Your prospect will receive an email, inviting them to fill out their information in order for the checks to be run. You will be sent an email notification when the report is available for download.
Approve/Decline a Prospect
At this point, you will want to ask the prospect if they are still interested in leasing a property from you and wish to proceed. In the Action column, choose the Approve/Decline prospect option. This will change the prospect’s status and notify them of your decision. If you approved them, they have the opportunity to respond to let you know that they are still interested in proceeding.
Convert to Tenant and Create Rental Agreement
The final part of the process is to actually convert this person to a tenant and create a rental agreement. This is the last option in the Action column. The dialog is straightforward, and we have more information about managing tenants and rental agreements. Once you have done this, you have the option of uploading a lease file. This file can later be found in the rental agreement documents page.
Once the conversion has been completed, the prospect record will be deleted, a new tenant and rental agreement record is created, and all of the prospect documents can now be found under the rental agreement documents.
If you manage several properties, you may find that your prospects list becomes a little cluttered. We suggest that you delete old prospects who didn’t end up becoming tenants. This will help keep your workspace clean and organized.