When finding a new tenant for one of your properties, it’s vital to ensure they’re reliable, open to contact and able to occupy your property without causing any issues for you. Here we have some tips for filtering out unreliable candidates and getting good-quality tenants, and granting yourself peace of mind as a property owner.
Look At Their Career
The work a person does informs the majority of their habits. The most important factor here is obviously income, as this ties into rent reliability directly. A hedge fund employee seems like a great example, until the fund goes bust and suddenly they’re out of a job! Good property management services will be able to mitigate these unforeseen events and their consequences.
Ask For References
This may seem like common sense, but you’d be amazed at how often references aren’t even brought up. Some references are obviously easy to fake, so it’s usually a good idea to ask for more concrete credentials or have a phone call with the referee. Peace of mind is paramount when tenant-hunting, especially considering how stressful it can be. Of course, any applicant without references is probably not worth your time or energy, unless they can procure some on demand.
Establish A Rapport
Once you’ve narrowed your list down to a shortlist, it’s time to get to know potential tenants. All aspects of their lives could inform how they behave on your property. Hobbies are an important subject to broach; a wargaming enthusiast will create far less mess than an exotic pet owner, for example. This is also the perfect time to establish a healthy tenant-landowner relationship. By setting boundaries early and getting to know them, your prospective tenants will be more likely to conduct themselves correctly.
Be Selective
While it may be tempting to go with the first promising candidate you can find, it’s often best to make a shortlist and ponder your options carefully. After all, you may well end up having the same tenants for years, so being hasty isn’t in your best interests. Additionally, choosing a candidate should be based on reliability as opposed to total potential rent. A steady income is always better than a large, but unreliable one. It’s also advisable to choose the least interesting candidate, since it’s unlikely they’ll have any dramatic upheavals that will interrupt their payments. In short, ensure your revenue goes uninterrupted for as long as humanly possible.
Final Thoughts
A lot of these tips may seem like common sense. But it’s never a bad idea to reiterate the basics. A lot of the human element in property management comes down to nothing more than commonsense, people skills and overall observation. At the end of the day, it’s your time, effort and money. So why not take all the necessary steps to ensure they don’t go to waste?
