How Can You Select High-Quality Tenants for Your Rental Property?
So, you’ve decided to put your property on the market. What’s next? Well, now you need to find a tenant. But not just any tenant, you need to find the perfect person to rent your property. That can be a little harder said than done.
Market Your Rental Property In the Right Places
Let’s talk about how you can find the best possible tenant.
Step one: you need to get your rental property marketed in the right places. That can come from listing it on the right sites, finding the best ad space online, and putting it in the best places to uncover legitimate and trustworthy leads.
Some places you can list your rental property online that help you locate great tenants are:
Zillow - Even though Zillow charges a fee to list with them, its wide reach and partnerships with other listing services maximizes your listing’s reach.
Avail - When you list with Avail, they spread your listing on a variety of relevant search engines and notifies you of any interest.
Zumper - This site uses a two-way matching system that lets renters (and tenants) filter their search through measures like minimum credit scores.
To find the optimum space online, make sure you research where other properties are being listed in your area, and make sure your listing includes all of the key facts about your property.
Screen Rental Property Applicants
Alright, so what do you do after a potential tenant has applied for your listing? It’s time for screening. When you’re screening any applicant, here are some key things to do:
Pull their credit history
Verify their income
Look for past bankruptcies, evictions and foreclosures
Make sure you’re complying with fair housing laws
Another level of screening can come from talking to the applicant’s previous landlords. When you give them a call, there are five questions that can help uncover a lot of important information:
What type of tenant were they?
Did they miss any payments?
Were they ever late with their payments?
Did you ever have to post a notice on their door?
Would you rent to them again?
These questions give you a look into what it’s actually going to be like to rent to this person and lets you know more about their ability to care for your property. Selecting a tenant is an important process and can’t be left to chance.
Red Flags to Watch for in Applicants to Your Rental Property
Just like when you’re looking for a partner in life, when you’re looking for a good tenant, there are some red flags to keep an eye out for:
Tardiness - the applicant has a habit of showing up late to meetings or calls.
Ghosting - you have a hard time maintaining communication with them.
Defensive - they are hesitant to go through a screening process and refuse to fill out the application.
Use a Property Management Company to Find Great Tenants
But, doing all of this screening and marketing as an independent owner can be tricky. Without a thorough screening process (and a healthy pinch of expertise in landlord/tenant laws), key bits of information can slip through the cracks.
That’s where a property management company can really help. When you partner with a trusted company, you’re getting a trained team of experts handling every step of the process. You can have confidence that your property is getting all the marketing help it needs, and the peace of mind knowing that you don’t have to worry about untrustworthy tenants or legal slip ups.
Less time worrying about the tenant process means more time doing important things (like enjoying a nice adult beverage at the end of the day).
If you’d like to talk to Freedom Ventures Property Management about our tenant screening process and how we can manage your rental properties in Alabama, reach out to us online or by phone at (205) 315-0054.
