If you’re a landlord and have a rental property vacancy, or you are just considering getting into rental property investing, then you’re probably aware how important it is that fill any vacancies as quickly as possible.
However, tenant screening to find the perfect renter can be a lot harder than you might expect.
To find the perfect tenant, you will need to find someone that will make their payments on time, won’t damage the property, and won’t cause any disturbances with their neighbors. It’s impossible to predict exactly how a prospective tenant will act in the future, but there are quite a few techniques that you can use to identify warning signs. As it’s been said, ‘the best predictor of future behavior, is past behavior’.
Here are a couple of pointers to help you get started on the path to successfully screening a tenant:
Familiarize Yourself With Their Financial Situation
First and foremost, you want to be aware of their financial situation. Specifically, you’ll want to take a look at their credit history and employment status.
If they have a solid credit history, then there is a good chance that they will make their payments on time. Of course, you will also need to consider how long their credit history is and how old they are. If an 18-year-old has a spotless credit history, then that’s a lot less impressive than a 50-year-old with the same impeccable record. While it is possible for young adults to have quite a few entries in their credit history, that isn’t generally the case.
If they are employed, then there is a good chance that they are reliable and will be able to make their payments. Not every employed individual is a paragon of responsibility, but the averaged employed individual is much more likely to pay their rent on time than the average unemployed individual. There are exceptions, but it’s best not to take a risk and trust that someone will pay their rent if they don’t make any money.
Check Their References
If someone is going to be renting from you, then you definitely want to talk to their references beforehand. From a certain perspective, their references are your peers, which means that they can provide some pretty valuable insight into what you should expect from the prospective tenant.
However, simply asking their references about their general quality of character isn’t going to get you that much useful information. Instead, you’ll want to make very specific inquiries about how they treated their rented property and whether they made their payments on time (and how late payments were if they were not made on time). You’ll also want to ask about their personal opinions on the tenant, since that can help you get a better idea of what to expect in your interactions with your tenant in the future. You can also partner up with a tenant referencing provider to skip this long process.
Take Your Time and Be Careful
It’s important to not accept the first tenant that looks good. You want to make sure that you methodically check their application, and although the above criteria are not foolproof, they can help you avoid making a mistake. The sad truth of the matter is that some individuals are charming and pleasant, yet make for terrible tenants that never make their payments on time and leave the property in a much worse condition than it was in before they arrived.
Simplify the Process with a Tenant Screening Tool
If you are looking for an easier solution to help make your tenant screening process less hectic and involved, you can consider using a online screening tool that will help you perform a background check, credit check, and even eviction history check all-in-one.
Rather than spending a lot of time using random tools or checks, these all-in-one solutions will do the heavy lifting and give you the info you need to help you make an informed decision with a lot less hassle and stress.
