5 Ways To Find The Right Tenants
Are you an owner of a rental house or apartment? Do you have trouble finding the right tenants for your properties?
As a landlord you may often have to make a decision on how to screen and pick the right tenant.
Below are some ways on how you can do this:
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Ask the right questions
It is important to know where the tenant moved from and why. If their answers are vague or seemingly unclear, you might want to discard their application. It does not hurt to find out more about their life and work. Any information that can indicate how they are going to treat your property is relevant.
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Submit a rental application
If anyone plans to rent your property, they must submit a rental application. Anyone refusing to do that should be rejected right away. The tenant should be informed that their application will be considered along with those from others and that they should submit it as fast as possible if they want to beat their competition. Check for consistent information coinciding with any other documents and try to catch any contradictions in the application. The application should be complete to the highest possible extent if not full. Applications with lots of missing/contradicting information should be rejected immediately.
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Validate information in the rental application
While you should hope that the prospective tenant has not lied or hid any information in the application, that is not always the case. You should verify the information provided separately and make sure the tenant is exactly who they say they are. A good application is no good if it does not survive a validation check. Check their history with previous rentals including whether they pay their rent on time. Check if they have broken any major rules or agreements in any of their previous stays.
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Perform a background check
Check for any criminal records held by the prospective tenant. A few parking tickets might be excused, but make sure you are not inviting a criminal to the neighborhood. It is quite crucial to check their credit scores and history. A person with a bad credit history is more likely to be late on their rent payments. You can ask for recommendations and references from previous landlords or their employers about their character. It is strongly advised to perform these checks with the prospective tenant’s consent. Of course, if someone refuses you any check, it is likely that they are hiding something. Keep your eyes on that front as well.
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Choose someone consistent
A lot can be said about a person’s consistency based on their history. Do they change jobs often? If they do, then why? Do they have a constant source of income? If yes, then for how long has it been this way? These are the things you have to find out. A person who cannot keep a job for a long time might not be able to pay the rent on time when they are in deep water once again.
You may not find the perfect tenant even with all the information you have. You may ultimately have to use your judgement to make a decision. Be sure to follow your local fair housing rules and make sure both parties understand each other clearly. Here’s to hoping you get the best tenants out there!
Looking for more tips on how to deal with common tenant issues? Learn more here.