The tour is the prime opportunity to interview your prospective tenants. Verify the information they have provided to you, and ask questions. This is more about creating a comfortable conversational atmosphere than it is being efficient with your time.

It’s also important to not get into a habit of interviewing first and then refusing to show people available properties just because they aren’t perfect – this isn’t to suggest that you would be discriminatory to a certain degree, but if you get into the habit of qualifying people before showing then that is something that you ultimately wont be able to control.

This will aid in your overall approach to showing as you will be open and welcoming – this will help you with every prospective, whether they turn out to be not what you are looking for, or if they are the perfect fit for your property.

Naturally, regardless of when you interview, you do need to verify all provided information and double check on the critical facts – employement, income, hopes and dreams, etc. You might find that some people gloss over facts or are not completely genuine when looking for apartments – by letting them in first and then verifying, you can sometimes catch people off-guard.

The other thing you want to uncover during the showing/visit is whatever objections your prospective tennats may have. It is important to discover these objections during the tour, because thent hey can be addressed. What you don’t want, i to give someone a tour, find out they are what you are looking for, sit them down to potentially sign a lease, then have them say “we want to think about this, we arent sure about [thing].” Then they walk out, and you have lost them.

No rental property is going to be completely perfect – there may be some physical aspect, or perhaps the price is a little high (this will be especially the case if every element of the property is what they are looking for). The objections ou recieve are likely to be tailored to either benefit the prospective tenant – where they may try to convince you to lower rent – or they may have valid concerns. Your previous questions to the tenant should unveil elements they may have concerns about so you can address them directly.

In the end, you are clarifying your prospect, and setting the stage to convince them to rent with you and sign a lease.