4 Things You Can do to Find the Best Rental Tenants
When it comes to rental properties, tenant screening is the most important step you can take to ensure you are renting to quality rental tenants. Of course nothing that you do will 100% guarantee great rental tenants, but you want to be sure to give yourself the best possible chance and by taking the time to screen your tenants and ask the right questions, you can eliminate many bad tenants. This is important to do because it only takes one bad tenant to put your behind and to impact your business for months to come.
Here are four things that you can do to help you find the best rental tenants for every lease.
Have a Strict Screening System
Lenders don’t give loans to every borrower that applies, and as a landlord you should share that mindset; you can’t just rent your property out to the first possibly qualified person to show up. This can be a difficult thing to fight, especially if you are nearing the end of the lease and staring at eviction. However, if you implement strict screening practices, you are taking steps to protect your property long-term.
How do you implement a good screening system? Start by sending every interested tenant an application before they even see the property. The more you go back and forth with showing, the more likely you are to get frustrated and let your guard down. Your initial application doesn’t need to be more than a few questions long; you want to have some idea of their current employment and residence, previous residences, criminal history and personal references. Make it known that this step is required before you will show the property and if there are any red flags at this point, make the applicant and aware and move on to the next tenant.
Put Pictures First
Today there are plenty of property marketing options than ever before. Previously, if you wanted to rent a property you put an ad in the local newspaper, interested tenants would call and inquire about the property then schedule a showing. While a newspaper can still be effective, now you have the option of dedicated rental websites and social media for marketing.
Streamline the process by putting up high-quality pictures and videos. You may even consider setting up a website directly related to your rental property that includes pictures, videos, frequently asked questions and lease information. Setting up a website is inexpensive, can save you time and help you find serious tenants. Tenants that take the time to submit an online application are interested in the property, and they already know the rules and expectations from reading the website. By setting up a website, you can reduce the amount of time answering the same questions and find tenants that are truly interested.
Contact References and Future Landlords
Requiring tenants to complete an application only makes sense if you are willing to follow up on it. Some tenants may appear to be great, but on closer inspection they are total disasters. To help you determine good tenants versus bad tenants you need to actually take the time to make some phone calls.
Begin with their current employer and make sure the phone number listed matches up with your online search, because it isn’t uncommon for bad tenants to provide the number of a friend or family member that will pose as their employer. Ask for the human resources department of the company, or if it’s small enough, ask to speak directly to the owner. Explain who you are, why you are calling and verify employment, and the number of hours listed on the application. If everything checks out, contact any previous landlords, but be sure that you don’t take the word of previous landlord too seriously. You never know if they held a grudge for how the lease ended, but if the landlord has no problems to report, feel confident that you are looking at a strong tenant.
Set Expectations and Guidelines
Get as much information as possible before your tenant signs the lease; your tenant may be great on paper and be interested in the property, but you need to make sure any loose ends are tied up before your lease is signed. Go over the lease and point out items of particular importance to you – if you are set on no smoking or pets, make sure to let your tenants know there are consequences to breaking this rule. Be sure that you reiterate the guidelines for parking rules, payment options, the maximum number of people in the property and what utilities they will be responsible for. Now is the time to address any questions your tenant may have, and even if it takes a few extra days to sort all of this out, it’s far better to do it now rather than dealing with problems later on.
Although this process may seem tedious and lengthy, completing these steps helps to ensure you protect your rental property. Always check references and be sure that you have made all of your expectations clear. By going the extra mile and doing the legwork, you give yourself the best chance for finding great tenants for your rental property.