How to Reply to a Tenant Inquiry on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist
Your first reply to a rental inquiry sets the tone for everything that follows. A slow, vague, or inconsistent response costs you qualified applicants — and a careless one can create Fair Housing problems. Here's the exact template small landlords should use, plus the pre-screening questions to include and the mistakes that trip people up most often.
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Why the first reply matters more than you think
On Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, the best tenants are often talking to several landlords at once. If your reply takes 12 hours and says only “when can you view?” you've already lost the top candidates to someone who responded quickly, clearly, and professionally.
But speed alone isn't the goal. The first reply also needs to do real work: confirm your criteria, introduce your process, and ask the questions you'll need answered before scheduling any showing. Doing that in one message — instead of three or four back-and-forth exchanges — saves both parties hours.
Done right, the first reply pre-screens roughly half of your inquiries passively: people who can't meet the income requirement, have pets you don't allow, or want to move in next week when you're not ready will often self-select out after reading your message — without you needing to have a conversation.
The copy-paste first-reply template
Use this template verbatim or adapt it to your rental. The key is to send the same core message to every applicant — this is both a Fair Housing best practice and a practical time-saver.
Template — copy and customize
Hi [Name] — thanks for reaching out about [property address or description].
Here are the basics: rent is $[X]/month, deposit is $[X], and the unit is available [date]. My minimum criteria are [income requirement, e.g. 3× monthly rent], [credit/background check], and [lease term].
Before scheduling a showing, I'd like to ask a few quick questions that I send to every applicant:
- What is your target move-in date?
- How many people will be living in the unit, and what are their ages?
- What is your gross monthly income? Can you provide a pay stub or bank statement if asked?
- Have you had any evictions or broken leases in the last five years?
- Do you have any pets? If yes, please share breed and weight.
- A few viewing windows that work for your schedule?
Please don't send sensitive documents or any payment through Marketplace/Craigslist messages — that happens later through a secure application process.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
[Your name]
A few things to notice about this template: it states criteria up front (so unqualified applicants can opt out), it uses identical phrasing for everyone (reducing Fair Housing risk), it asks for viewing availability proactively (so you don't need another round of messages), and it explicitly tells applicants not to send documents or money through the platform (a scam-prevention note that serious applicants will appreciate).
Don't want to edit a template every time? Our free Tenant Inquiry Auto-Reply Generator writes a custom reply for your specific listing and the tenant's actual message. Paste in two fields, get a send-ready reply with pre-screening questions included.
The standard pre-screening questions — and why each one is there
The six questions in the template above are not arbitrary. Each one is designed to surface a specific category of potential issue before you invest time in a showing.
1. Target move-in date
Immediately filters out applicants who want to move in before you're ready, or who want to wait 60 days when you need the unit filled now. No awkward back-and-forth — their answer tells you everything.
2. Number of occupants and ages
You need this to enforce occupancy limits (typically 2 people per bedroom plus one, per HUD guidance) and to know whether you're dealing with a family with children, which affects some Fair Housing considerations. Ask for ages, not whether there are children — asking directly about protected classes is a Fair Housing violation.
3. Gross monthly income and proof-of-income readiness
Most small landlords require 2.5× to 3× the monthly rent in gross income. Asking whether they can provide documentation is a soft qualifier: applicants who push back on this early are unlikely to complete a formal application.
4. Eviction or broken lease history
This is a dealbreaker question for most landlords. A clear “no” is good; a clear “yes, here's what happened” tells you something; a vague non-answer is itself a signal. Note: some jurisdictions have “fair chance” laws that restrict when and how you can use eviction history — check your local rules.
5. Pets (breed and weight)
If your lease prohibits pets or has specific restrictions, this filters out applicants early. If you allow pets with a deposit, collecting breed and weight upfront helps you make an informed decision before the showing. Note: service animals and emotional support animals are not “pets” under Fair Housing — never screen them out this way.
6. Viewing availability
Collecting scheduling preferences in the first exchange means that if they qualify, you can move straight to booking a showing without another round of messages. This one question probably saves 30 minutes of back-and-forth per applicant.
Common mistakes landlords make in the first reply
Most of these are easy to avoid once you know to look for them.
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Replying differently to different applicants
Sending a full screening message to one applicant and just "when can you come see it?" to another is inconsistent at best and a Fair Housing liability at worst. Use the same template for everyone, every time.
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Asking about protected classes
Never ask about national origin, religion, family status (beyond occupant count/ages), disability, marital status, or source of income (in many jurisdictions). Ask only about the objective criteria — income, dates, pets, eviction history — using the same wording for every applicant.
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Waiting too long to reply
A good tenant who messages three landlords on Saturday morning has often committed to a showing by Sunday afternoon. Replying Monday is too late. Set up notifications and reply within a few hours — even if just to say "I'll send full details within the hour."
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Scheduling a showing before asking any questions
Showing a unit to everyone who inquires wastes hours. Five minutes of pre-screening in Messenger eliminates the people who can't afford the rent, want to bring four pets, or need to move in tomorrow. Use the time you'd spend on bad showings to respond faster to qualified applicants.
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Asking for documents or payment through Messenger
Scammers frequently pose as landlords on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, asking for IDs, SSNs, and application fees before a showing. Your first reply should explicitly state that any sensitive documents or money will come later through a secure process — this protects your applicants and signals that you're a legitimate landlord.
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Being too casual in tone
A professional, clear first message builds trust before you've met in person. It signals that you have a real process, that you treat applicants consistently, and that you're organized enough to be a landlord people want to rent from.
Staying consistent across 20+ inquiries
A single rental listing on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist can generate 20–60 inquiries in the first 48 hours. Keeping up manually — and doing it consistently — is where most small landlords lose time.
A few practical approaches:
- →Save the template above as a text snippet or note on your phone. Many SMS and messaging apps support saved replies or message templates.
- →Reply to every inquiry, even if you're already in late-stage conversations with a qualified applicant. If they go elsewhere, you haven't wasted them.
- →Keep a simple log: applicant name, date of first message, whether they responded to your screening questions, and status. A spreadsheet works fine for 1–3 units.
- →Set a personal deadline for first replies — e.g. “always within 3 hours during daytime.” Communicate that expectation so you follow it.
Generate a custom reply for your listing — instantly
Instead of editing the template above for every new inquiry, paste your listing details and the tenant's message into our free tool. It writes a polished, ready-to-send reply with pre-screening questions tailored to your specific rental — in seconds.