Make Your Lease Application a Success

There has been a boom in the leasing market here in the Houston and the surrounding areas. It is creating a shortage of lease properties and whatever is available is moving fairly fast, unless it's in gross condition (that is a whole other blog). With so much competition for lease properties there are some things you can do to improve your chances of having your application accepted.

• Please fill out your application thoroughly!! Fill in every blank and section applicable to you. And write as neatly as possible so it's easy for the person reviewing it to read. The one part that I would leave blank when filling out the application initially is the address information. Make copies of the Lease App, keep the original, and then fill out the address blanks when you have found the property you want to lease. If you do not get accepted, then at least you don't have to refill another long application. Here in Texas it is four pages long and can be tedious to have to fill out over and over.

• The second one seems like a no brainer but be honest, landlords and property managers are going to verify everything on your application, so do yourself a favor and don't get caught lying!

• Make copies of your last month to two months of pay stubs and/ or W2s on hand.

• Make copies of your driver license and social security card, and make sure they are legible.

• Try to have all of these paperwork ready to go before you go look at property with your Realtor. Properties are moving quickly and you want to have everything together before you look so that when you want to apply you can submit the application promptly.

• If you have credit issues (which many renters I come across do) it can help to have letters of recommendation from previous landlords or employers. Good rental history and stable employment can go a long way to help off set some credit issues.