So, you’ve decided to get on one of the steps on the property ladder – being a landlord, you’ve either got some properties ready to lease long term or in a timeshare agreement to multiple tenants, or you have a basement you are planning on renting out, which you can find more info about over at websites like advantagecontracting.com as well as similar others, but you are worried about what sort of tenants will be crossing your path. Tenant screening is a necessary process that allows us to verify prospective tenants’ information and determine whether it is safe for them to live in our rental properties. During the procedure, we must investigate their eviction and criminal history, as well as their credit scores. That isn’t all. Several other factors come into play when we want to find the best tenants for 1 bdrm apartments near houston or wherever you live. Looking for criminal history is one of the most important aspects of a background check. A person with a criminal record may endanger you or your neighbors. Anyway, let’s dive into the factors that we should always consider for successful tenant screening. If a tenant isn’t thoroughly screened then you may possibly face difficulties such as having to look to timeshare exit companies and estate lawyers who may be able to help you end a lease agreement with difficult tenants. Of course, these troubles may be lessened with the help of a screening service, before you lease out a property of vacation unit to a prospective tenant or co-owner.
Our Standards
Our set standards should be the first thing we think about when screening our potential tenants. What qualities must the latter possess? For starters, they should have no history of evictions. It is also best if they have not committed any felonies, even though we could make exceptions depending on specific cases. Additionally, tenants should earn at least thrice the rent we require them to pay for our properties. This guarantees us that we’ll always get our money on time.
We must let our tenants know the minimum requirements they should meet to rent our properties. If they are not comfortable with any of our conditions, we may have to let them go to avoid future complications. This is especially true when you have put your hard-earned money or have taken out a big loan to custom build the house as per your taste. Properties like these are all about their curb appeal and therefore require specialist builders and contractors (such as Hyde Homes), which can be an expensive affair. Therefore, it is only fair that the tenants are chosen after much deliberation and screening.
Rental Application
It is necessary to request rental applications from our tenants. This allows us to ensure that they meet our standards and are an excellent fit for us. We should design our digital rental application forms to avail basic information about our tenants. This includes the following:
- Personal information, i.e., full name, address, and phone number
- Current employer and job position
- Date of birth
- Social security number
- Previous and current landlords
- Broken leases and evictions if there are any
At this stage, we can also request credit reports and background checks to know as much as we can about our prospective tenants. It’s crucial to remember that the rental application must be based on the local and state fair housing laws. If we don’t comprehend them entirely, it is best to conduct some research first, lest we get caught up in legal problems.
Qualities of Tenants
When we think of our dream tenants, various qualities come to mind. For instance, the best tenants are honest, and hygienic and they do not use drugs. On top of that, they possess excellent communication skills, assuring us that if there’s an issue with our properties, they’ll let us know as soon as possible. One way of assuring that the tenant is reputed and of high standing is that he must have a property manager for his multi family property management in Seattle and elsewhere.
Additionally, a fantastic prospective tenant has renters’ insurance. This means that if their possessions are stolen or damaged, we won’t have to bear the burden of replacing them. If our properties are destroyed because of their negligence, the renters’ insurance will also cover it.
There are various ways to determine if our tenants have some of these attractive qualities I’ve mentioned above.
Call Previous Landlords
We can call the previous landlords of our prospective tenants and ask them about the latter. There’s a high probability that they’ll be hand-picked, but this doesn’t mean we should ignore contacting them. We should be smart about it and try to discover if they are fake or genuine by asking for verification details or pretending to look for apartments.
Check Social Media
Checking our tenants’ social media profiles could also tell us a few things about their hygiene and honesty, especially if they have posted photos of themselves. Should we come across pictures of a tenant and their “previous landlord,” that’s a red flag. The tenant might have lied about the nature of their relationship.
To become prosperous landlords, we must come up with efficient tenant screening processes. The factors I’ve mentioned above can be a part of these procedures. They help us avoid problems such as property damage, non-payments & late payments, and tenant evictions.
