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Landlords make money in their sleep, unless their tenants are giving them nightmares.
Bad tenants can ruin a landlord’s dream of real estate investing, not to mention their property!
So how do you keep the bad tenants out? Vetting your tenants is necessary to avoid major headaches.
Find quality tenants using these four tips, and never have to deal with bad tenants again.
Tip 1: Location
Having a rental in the right location can improve your likelihood of having good clients.
Rentals in the right location will attract high-quality tenants. You can advertise local features by your rental to attract better tenants as well.
A rental in the right location will have the following:
Low crime
Good schools
Room for business growth
Easy access to restaurants
Nearby business parks
Fast access To highways
Nearby parks, gyms, and libraries
You can also improve your rental by adding safety features. Safety features such as secured locks, outdoor lights, and security footage, will make tenants feel safer regardless of where your rental is located.
Tip 2: Tenant Interview
Once you start receiving applications for your rental, make sure to spend time going over each application.
Once you start showing your rental, make sure you interview your potential tenants. Getting to know your tenants will help you sort the good from the bad.
Some great questions to ask your tenants are the following:
Do you have any pets?
Why are you looking to move?
What has your experience been with past landlords?
Each of these questions makes it easy to learn the following about the tenant: why they are leaving their current place, if they are on good terms with their current landlords, move-in date, and if they have pets.
Tip 3: References and Background Checks
After showing and reviewing your tenant application, you may feel ready to consider an offer. Don’t do it! Make sure to follow up on your applications by running a credit and background check – it is a worthwhile investment. Be sure to include an eviction search in your background check to find out if a previous landlord has evicted them before.
You may want to supplement your background check by doing a quick google search to verify their employment references as well. You can also learn a lot on social media, such as past job and address history, which should generally match what they’ve told you.
The key here is to make sure that there aren’t any outstanding red flags that would make them a bad tenant.
Some red flags you can spot on social media or a background check are:
Eviction history
Assault or destruction crimes
Spotty employment history
Addresses or alias names
Tip 4: Upgrading Your Property
Another way to attract high-quality tenants is to offer top of the line amenities.
“The best way to attract the best tenants is the offer the best rental around. That means spending the time and money to set your rental apart from the rest.” -Loren Howard, Prime Plus Mortgages, Phoenix Hard Money Loans.
Many landlords look to make one time repairs while their property is vacant to increase the value. So what are the three best upgrades you can make to your rental?
Paint: Adding a fresh coat of paint can drastically change the look and feel of your rental. Not to mention it is cheap and easy to do!
Upgraded Kitchen: Make the most of the space you have, and make sure it has all the features you can expect, such as, dishwasher, microwaves, fridges, and more.
Well-lit Bathrooms: Get the most out of your rental by upgrading the lights. Second to the kitchen the bathroom is the most used room of your rental so make sure it has adequate lighting. Adding a vanity can be the wow feature that sets your rental apart from the pack.
Summary
To find the best tenants, you must be willing to dig and search for the best. That also means choosing to leave a room vacant to avoid the headache bad tenants can cause.
Rent in good locations
Interview tenants
Use references and background checks
Upgrade your property
What’s your trick to finding good tenants?
BIO
Catherine Way is a Digital Marketer and Content Creator. She graduated from Michigan State University Advertising Program with a specialization in Graphic Design. Growing up in a chaotic and fun childhood in a large family, she loves finding new mediums to help bring people together. You can see her latest creations here.
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