Tenant Screening Tips

Tenant Screening Tips

For landlords, getting the right tenants is arguably the most important aspect of running your property. This means that you will need to do everything reasonable to find the right tenants from the start and eliminate those who have troubling issues. Here are a few tenant screening tips that will help you find the best ones for your property. While no screening process is perfect, the tips will help you minimize the potential for getting undesirable tenants which will only cause more headaches.

Start Early

You need to start the process of looking for new tenants in the months before the lease from your old tenants runs out. If you do not plan to re-sign them or if they have indicated that they will move out, you will need to start looking for new tenants as soon as possible so that you are not facing a time-crunch. You will start with the phone call with a potential new tenant that you get from their inquiry which is usually through an email.

When you talk to them, be sure to answer the questions they have about your property, but have a few questions of your own for them to answer. You need not be too specific as it is the tone and tenor of their answers, not so much the substance that you will be honing in on to see if they are right for your property.

Application & Follow-Up

When they apply to be on your property, they will need to fill out an application form. You will need the basic information from their work status, rental history, information about their income, criminal history, and more. If the tenant is reluctant to provide such information, you can stop the process right there. Once the application is filled out, you can start the follow-up process which consists of verifying the past information.

You will want to talk to their previous landlords that are listed, make a general search online for any criminal record, and check their employment history and even their credit report if necessary. Naturally, any large red flags such as their previous behavior or bad credit score should be investigated further or you can eliminate them if you wish. However, keep in mind that many good tenants have a blemish or two on their past, so keep that in mind.

The Walk-Through

One of the most important tenant screening tips happens when you show the property to the prospective tenant. You should look for signs of whether they are really interested in your property. If they have seen enough after a few minutes and want to leave, that is a good indication that they are not really that interested. However, if they are interested, they might offer to sign a lease quickly and provide a security deposit. Tenants willing to set firm dates and willing to pay are interested in staying on your property, so those are the ones you want to have.

By following a few tenant screening tips, you can find the best people for your property. You also may want to consider that good tenants come with different personalities and backgrounds, so it is important for you to know their background and their demeanor when looking over your property. This will provide you with good insight into their interest.