Define your ideal tenant profile
Do You Have to Be Lucky to Find a Great Tenant?
Do you have to be lucky to find a great tenant? Not if you take a proactive approach to tenant selection by defining your requirements.
Signing a great tenant involves much more than simply crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. A strategic approach that combines effective marketing and thorough screening, along with a touch of luck, is necessary to find the ideal tenant.
Here’s how to ensure you’re attracting and securing high-quality renters:
1. Define your ideal tenant profile
- Before advertising, clearly define the qualities you’re looking for, such as income level, credit score, rental history and employment stability.
- Be mindful of Fair Housing Act guidelines, which prohibit discrimination based on protected characteristics, such as race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability.
- In order to prevent Fair Housing Act violations, create a page outlining your criteria and give it to everyone showing an interest in renting your vacancy.
2. Market your property strategically
- Create an appealing rental listing: Use professional photos and highlight key features and amenities, such as an in-unit laundry, security features, smart-home technology or nearby schools.
- Advertise in the right places: Leverage online platforms such as Zillow or Facebook Marketplace to reach a broad audience of qualified renters.
- Price rent competitively: Research similar properties in your area to find a fair market rate that attracts tenants while covering your costs.
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3. Implement a comprehensive tenant screening process
- Request a detailed rental application: This should include personal details, employment and income information, rental history and landlord references. These are factors you want to be aware of before you allow someone to move into your property.
- Pre-screen: Chat with potential tenants and review their application to get a feel for their suitability before ordering detailed background checks.
- Verify employment and income: Request pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns or employer letters to confirm their ability to comfortably afford the rent.
- Conduct thorough background checks: Isn’t it better to know before you sign a lease whether your applicant has been identified as a sex offender or a terrorist?
- Credit Check: A prospective tenant’s credit report is a good gauge of how conscientious they are about their financial commitments. You’ll learn how much credit they have, if they are approaching their credit limits and if they pay off their debts as agreed.
- Social Security Number Fraud Check: Is your applicant using another person’s SSN? This verification will uncover whether your candidate is who they say they are.
- Criminal Background Check: A criminal check will tell you if they have been in trouble with the law during the last seven years. Be sure to include searches for sex offender, terrorist and federal crimes.
- Eviction History: Indicates past rental problems, usually unpaid rent or extensive damage to the landlord’s property, which can be a predictor of future behavior.
- Tax Liens and Civil Judgments: A tax lien is a lien imposed by law upon a property to secure the payment of taxes, while a civil judgment is a ruling against a defendant in a court of law. The judgment can arise from small claims, unpaid debts or property damage due to negligence. Any of these is of vital importance to a landlord when considering a possible tenant.
- Check References: Order landlord and employment verifications to confirm the applicant’s rental and job histories and behavior.
Intuition and luck are just not enough these days when you are deciding who to trust your property with. By taking a proactive approach to tenant selection, you increase your chances of attracting and retaining responsible tenants who will respect your property and pay rent on time.
Source: Rental Housing Journal
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