I Use Facebook To Reference Prospective Tenants
Written by The Landlord on 13 Jul 2010All landlords should be embracing the internet and taking advantage of all the free tools out there! EVERY landlord can prosper through the internet in one way or another; some times it’s just a case of thinking outside the box!
Facebook isn’t designed to be a human directory, but that’s what it effectively is, and that’s what makes it an extremely powerful tool.
Initially, I only used Facebook for what it was designed for, to stalk hot local girls and build a library of masturbation material. But these days I find myself using Facebook for all other kinds of creepy shit.
Since most of my marketing methods to find new tenants is online based, it’s pretty easy to track down prospective tenants on Facebook. For example, if I put an advert on Gumtree, applicants most commonly send enquries through email, which gives me access to their email address. Then I just copy/paste their email address into the Facebook search, and et voilà. Well, it’s et voilà 9 times out of 10 – it’s rare that 0 search results are returned.
If 0 searches are returned, I search for the applicants name (if they provide their full name). If the name is not particularly common, they’ll only be a few results, and then I try to filter the results by location.
I don’t think I need to discuss how popular Facebook is; every man and his dog has an account (multiple accounts if they’re a paedophile). If someone is using the internet to apply for tenancy, the odds are they’ll have a Facebook account.
Why is referencing prospective tenants by Facebook useful to me, as a landlord?
1) I successfully found an applicant on Facebook last week. It turned out that we had “mutual friends” – I know the mutual friend quite well, so I contacted him to get a character reference of the applicant. You can’t beat a character reference from a personal friend.
The property I’m marketing is in a small, local town (population of 80,000), so everyone is usually linked somehow.
2) If a Facebook account isn’t heavily restricted, you’re able to view the user’s pictures. If possible, I scour through the pictures and start making judgments based on their social surroundings and behaviour.
Ignorant and judgmental? Yeah, probably. But wouldn’t you judge if your tenant had pictures like this…
3) Most Facebook users are “fans” of particular groups/pages. Again, depending how the security is set on the profile, you can usually see which groups/pages users are members of. Pay attention to what they’re subscribing to, because they may have legitimate attachments with the BNP and/or a sheep shagging society.
Yeah, so next time you get someone applying to be a tenant, see if you can track them down on Facebook to get a closer look at their life!
Oh, word of warning. This can work both ways. Tenants can just as easily track down landlords. If my prospective tenants saw my Facebook profile, they’d probably never apply…
Next Article
Landlord Guide On Protection Against Bad TenantsRelated Articles
4 Comments - join the conversation...
Happy hunting :)
2
3
LOL
YES I would use facebook.
Doesn't matter if there rich or poor, black or white. If they've got deviant goings on, on there photos. And its not a national holiday, like Fireworks night, then they I will not be renting to them.:-);-) You want to see the kind of stuff I used to get up too Laughs out Loud!.
"Casper Firebrand" (disclaimer: not my real name).
4
Please leave a comment
Want FREE Landlord/Tenant advice from experienced Landlords?
Join our active Landlord community by registering to our Landlord Forum. Learn, share and resolve your problems!
I initially started this website because I wanted to document my every step from property idiot to property landlord,
in hope that people would find my site and help me along the way. I literally didn't have a clue about being a landlord
when I started this website.
1