Finding Good Tenants

Posted on 19. Dec, 2010 by GuestPoster in Real Estate

If you talk to anyone who owns a rental property, they will often say that owning rental properties is easy, but managing tenants is difficult.  A good tenant can be easy to work with and make the job of being a landlord pleasant.  A bad tenant can be stressful and make you question why you ever purchased that property.

So how can you find good tenants to make your job as landlord easier?  Here are some ideas:

• Screen all your tenant applicants for credit, criminal, and rental history.   Look for any issues or inconsistencies in their rental history.  Can they show where they have lived for the five years?

• Does the tenant have a steady job?  A steady job that they have been in for at least year shows that they are dependable.  If the tenant has been employed for over five years at the same place, I am much more willing to overlook any other issues on their background.

• Make sure that you also call the prospective tenant’s previous two landlords.  Ask them whether the tenant ever had a late rent payment.  See if they had any problems with neighbors or police.  Ask if they would rent to the tenant again.  These discussions can lead to significant insight into the tenant’s personality and how they will be as a tenant in your building.

• Meet the tenant several times.  See if he or she on time and polite.  Try to meet her at her current home to see if it is clean and how she treats her current home.

• Ask why she is leaving where she lives now.  That answer may provide some interesting ideas of how she will be as a tenant.  Sometimes tenants will actually slip up and tell you the truth that they were just served an eviction notice.

There is no silver bullet to finding good tenants.  Doing a thorough job at screening is a good start.

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Tags: eviction evict, landlords, late rent payment, tenant screening, tenants