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Applications & Tenants

Review tenant applications and pick the right tenant

DomuHQ pre-screens every applicant for identity, income, and platform reputation. Here's how to read what's in front of you and decide quickly without skipping a good fit.

5 min readIntermediateHostsProperty managersUpdated May 28, 2026

What DomuHQ has already checked for you

Every applicant on the platform comes with a verified identity (government ID + selfie), a phone number, a profile photo, and a lifestyle questionnaire. The Verified badge means our partner has confirmed they are who they say they are. Applicants without that badge are still applying in good faith, but you're taking on more verification work yourself.

The five signals to scan first

  • Verified badge, yes or no. Verified profiles default to higher trust.
  • Income vs rent ratio, ideally 3× monthly rent. The application shows what they uploaded (payslips, contract, or guarantor letter).
  • Move-in date, does it match your viewing windows and your earliest-available date?
  • Length of stay, 1+ year tenants need less paperwork churn than short-term.
  • Personal note, did they engage with the listing or send a copy-paste 'I'm interested'?

Reading the personal note

The note is your best signal for what living with this tenant would feel like. Specific notes ("I love that the kitchen opens to the balcony, I work from home twice a week and bake on weekends") tell you who they are. Generic notes ("I'm interested in your beautiful flat") tell you they applied to 30 listings. Neither is automatically a yes or no, but the specific one is a stronger signal in your favor.

Schedule viewings with your top 3–5

Don't try to pick the winner from the inbox. Schedule viewings with three to five candidates whose paperwork is solid and whose notes feel like a fit. The viewing is where you find out which one actually lives the way they described, plus the in-person chemistry usually makes the right choice obvious within 10 minutes.

Replying fast matters more than picking perfectly

Applications that get a reply within 24 hours close at roughly triple the rate of applications that wait two or three days. Even "thanks, we're considering, will reply by Friday" buys you the relationship while you decide. Silence loses you the candidates who were most actively looking.

When to politely decline

Use the Decline button rather than ignoring. The platform sends a short generic decline notification so the candidate isn't left guessing for weeks. You can also write a one-line personal note if you want, but it isn't required.

Step-by-step

  1. 1

    Open your applications inbox

    5 seconds

    From the host dashboard, tap Applications. You'll see one row per listing, with a counter for new applications since you last looked.

  2. 2

    Sort by Verified first

    10 seconds

    Hit the sort dropdown and pick 'Verified, newest first'. This brings the highest-trust applications to the top and shows the freshest ones first within that group.

  3. 3

    Open each candidate's profile

    1 minute each

    Tap the candidate's name. You'll see their bio, lifestyle answers, uploaded income proof, and the personal note they sent with the application. Quickly scan for the five signals above.

  4. 4

    Schedule viewings with the top 3–5

    2 minutes per candidate

    On a candidate you like, tap Invite to viewing. Pick a time slot from the viewing windows you published with the listing, or propose a new one. They get an instant notification and can accept or counter-propose.

  5. 5

    Decide and respond to the rest

    5 minutes total

    After viewings, accept your chosen tenant from their application card. The platform auto-declines the rest with a polite notification, you don't need to message each one individually unless you want to.

Frequently asked questions

  • What if no applicants look like a fit?

    Refresh the listing first, check whether the photos and price are still competitive. If they are, expand the audience: remove restrictive lifestyle filters (no pets, no smokers, etc.) one at a time and see if your inbox picks up. Sometimes a single overly-tight filter halves your candidate pool.

  • Can I ask for additional documents after they apply?

    Yes. From the candidate's application card, tap Request document and pick the type (income proof, employer letter, guarantor signature). They get a notification and can upload directly into the same thread.

  • Does DomuHQ run a background or credit check?

    Identity verification, yes (via our partner). Credit and background checks are not part of the standard application, you can request additional references or run an external check yourself. We're rolling out optional integrated reference checks in a future release.

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