Selecting a tenant is the most important aspect of managing your investment property. In these scenarios an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! An undesirable tenant can turn your rental property experience into a nightmare if they damage the property, fail to pay rent on time or at all, or cost you when you have no choice but to evict them. The situation can get ugly fast. So, let’s discuss some quick and easy steps to ensure that we get the best tenants for your property!
Prequalify over the phone
This is the number one thing a good property manager does. No one is interested in wasting anyone's time when it comes to house hunting. A tenant deserves to know whether or not they will qualify for the home they are interested in without having to pay an application fee and waste time viewing the property. Therefore when a potential renter calls to schedule an appointment to view our properties, we always ask a few initial questions so that you can ensure you are only inviting reasonably qualified renters to look at the unit. If they are unwilling to fully answer your questions or are disrespectful, then they can be eliminated as possible candidates. We ask questions like:
-Do you have pets?
-How many people will be living in the space?
-Do you have good rental history?
-How would you rate your credit?
-Can you verify that your monthly income is three times the rental amount?
Consult Their Previous Landlords
We have a discussion with at least two of their former landlords and ask them these questions:
-Did they pay rent on time?
-Why did they move out? If they were evicted, was it for non-payment or for breaking lease rules?
-Did they get along with their neighbors?
-Did they provide 30 days notice before vacating?
-Did they keep the property in order?
-Did they damage the apartment other than general wear and tear?
-Did they complain or request maintenance often?
Run a Credit Check
It is important to know that your future tenant has a habit of paying their bills on time. A credit check will reveal their bill paying history and how much debt they have. Even if they earn more than three times the rental amount per month, they may still have trouble paying rent if they have a lot of debt. A credit check will also show prior court judgments and/or bankruptcy filings. A credit report is essentially the personal financial history of the tenant and can tell you everything you need to know, provided you know what to look for!
For more information on the rental process please feel free to contact one of our offices!
