Pius! Such great insight! And, HECK YES, a crazy increase over the past 5 years of fraudulent/falsified/misleading applications! As you mentioned, one of the biggest first steps is to ensure that the application is fully filled out with nothing missing. This is one of the main steps that helps landlords to matchup a timeline of verifiable information! Valid, legible ID's are a MUST! Google, google maps, Facebook, chatgpt, etc. are ALL your verification friends! If something doesn't lineup, I start asking questions about those things. If an applicant can't help make the puzzle pieces fit or don't want to, then typically my landlord clientele will not be moving forward. Credit and background services (MySmartMove, Rent spree, E-renter, etc. are a step that are necessary, but maybe not as important as the above steps and the below steps! I have found that I find the most fraud in regards to rental history and current employment. For this reason, the verification of previous addresses, the owners of those addresses, and the rental history plus the verification of employment and income, while also verifying the source being a valid source for that employer are the most important parts of an application! Without any of my landlords making any exceptions to accepting a potential applicant prior to the completion of every single step, we have never had a landlord client need to evict anybody in nearly 10 years of rentals! Having said that, I still worry about it every time. Fantastic question Pius! See you around sometime!

Georgianna! Excellent question! It is actually a commonly held misconception that a bedroom must have a closet to be considered a bedroom. In order to be considered a bedroom, you need to have a door that can close the room off as well as a window for egress. If you have both of those things, congratulations youve got a bonus room/ optional bedroom. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime! 346-412-6603 Codysellsproperty@gmail.com.

Emmanuel! Great questions! Ive included your specific license information in my source below. If youre unable to locate the list of classes, youve already taken and/or the classes still needed, feel free to email TREC directly at information@trec.texas.gov. Regarding new construction: you dont need any specific certifications or licenses or anything, but in any new form of real estate you begin to venture off into or undertake, it is required that either your broker or a mentor assigned by your broker supervises you first three transactions. So, reach out to your broker and see what that is going to look like for you according to them. Also, feel free to reach out to me directly anytime! 346-412-6603 Codysellsproperty@gmail.com.