Finding a good tenant to care for your property can be challenging. How can you find someone that will not only care for the property, but become someone who always pays on time, and does contribute to the overall community of the property? There are some great tenants, and then there are some terrible tenants. Here are ten ways to find good tenants.
Focus on Equal Treatment
When it comes to finding a tenant, landlords must follow the law. All prospective tenants must be treated equally and landlords need to follow the Federal Fair Housing Act. Landlords can reject someone for having poor credit, but they cannot reject someone because of their gender, race, religion, age, or family.
Run a Credit Report
Running a credit report is a good way to see how effectively someone has been able to pay their rent in the past, and how they manage their money. Checking the debt to income ratio is one of the important things to identify to know the person has demonstrated financial responsibility.
Run a Criminal Background Check
As you go over tenant records, it pays to run a background check to learn more about the person. Make sure you are checking a valid ID to ensure you are running a check on the right person. Sometimes people with criminal histories will falsify information as they have been rejected in the past.
Contact Previous Landlords
Take a look at their rental history. Call the previous landlords to learn about the tenant. Did they pay on time? Why did the tenant move? Was the tenant a nuisance? Did the tenant cause damage to the property? Did the tenant complain often?
Search for Stability
A rental application can show some stability in the tenants past. Does the individual have a history of job hopping? Does the tenant move frequently? If you have an applicant that jumps around often, it indicates instability that means you could have a vacant property quickly.
Advertise Correctly
Finding the right tenant can come down to where you are advertising. You need to post ads in the right areas as it will get you in front of the right type of tenant. For example, if you advertise on Craigslist, your tenant applications will not include people that are going to meet some of the higher standards you have for your property needs. Working with a San Diego property management company is one of the best ways to go about finding qualified tenants as they often have memberships on rental property listing sites.
Clean the Unit
Prior to advertising for a new tenant, you need to ensure the unit is cleaned properly. Tenants want to walk through the property and see a place that is clean and orderly. Do some upkeep and repairs to the property along with maintaining the property to keep it looking nice.
Limit the Number of People per Bedroom
The more people in the apartment, the more it increases the risk of wear and tear on the unit, along with noise. The Fair Housing Act recommends that there should be a number of two occupants per room.
Ask for Renters Insurance
Prior to having a lease signed, you should let your tenant know that you require renters insurance. Renters insurance is designed to cover the cost of tenants’ belongings in the event that there is damage to the property.
Trust Yourself
As you go through applications, meet with potential tenants, and focus on finding the right person, it is important to trust your instincts. Sometimes you may have a feeling about someone, and you can tell that they are not the right tenant. Finding a good tenant is difficult and it pays to hire someone who knows how to screen for tenants and find people that will be the ideal fit. San Diego Keyrenter Property Management focuses on finding good tenants, and building quality relationships between landlords and tenants.