Of course, you want to fill occupancies. But you don’t want to be so hasty, you choose the wrong tenants to rent your property.
The wrong tenants may leave your property in shambles or not pay their rent. It can increase the likelihood of having to process an eviction as well as higher vacancy rates.
To help avoid these and other issues, you’ll want to take time to find the right tenants for your property. That means doing a thorough screening. But what steps should you include in the screening process to ensure you’re making the right choice?
Identify who your ideal tenant is
Let’s start at the beginning. Before you even create a listing for your property you should have an idea of who your ideal tenant is. That means considering how much they’ll need to earn to cover the cost of rent. The typical recommendation is that a tenant’s income is three times as much as you’re charging.
You’ll also want to have an idea of what credit rating you’re comfortable with. And any other pieces of criteria that don’t violate fair housing, local, and state laws. Be sure to learn these requirements beforehand, to ensure you’re staying in compliance. And, make sure that you’re fair when making the final decision as to who to rent to. You should have consistent rules across the board. If you’re inconsistent you could get yourself into potential legal trouble.
Create a thorough listing
The next step is making sure that your listing is thorough. Provide important details and photos in the listing. These steps can help you weed out people who aren’t compatible with the property. For example, if you don’t allow pets, then put that in your advertisement. Also, make sure that you list if an application is required and what checks will be run. You can also mention how much it costs to run the checks, so they’re aware in advance that this is a step they’ll need to take in order to apply for your property. This alone may help deter potential renters that don’t align with your idea of an ideal tenant.
Pay special attention when showing a property
You can start off by asking things like when do they plan to move out of their current place and why they want to move on. You may also want to see how long they’ve lived at the residence they’re currently at.
You can also ask if they give you permission to run credit and background checks if the law allows. Ask if they’d be able to give you contact information for their place of employment and old landlords. In addition, you may want to ask about pets and whether they smoke or not. Be sure to check who they plan to move in with. I.e. do they plan to have any roommates or does the potential tenant plan to live alone? You may also consider asking if they’ve had an eviction or violated a rental agreement in the past.
Run checks and contact references
When they’re ready to fill out the application, you’ll want to run background and credit checks and call their references. You’ll also want to ask what they currently make monthly and request something that shows their income so you can ensure that they can afford the rent. Typically, an offer letter (that shows the income offered to them at hire), a W-2, or a pay stub is sufficient.
On the application, you’ll need to ask for additional information like if they failed to pay rent in the past and if they have a history of filing bankruptcy. If there is a cosigner for the property, make sure they also take these steps.
Going through all of these steps can help ensure you find the right tenant/s for your property. If you’d like additional assistance, reach out to us at PMI: . We make sure you have a listing that represents your property well, a detailed lease, and we always conduct a thorough tenant screening. We can even keep your property well-maintained in order to increase tenant satisfaction.
