Landlords have a lot on their plate. They must advertise, provide maintenance, collect rent, and do much more. When faced with bad tenants, the stress of being a landlord is simply compounded. By taking the necessary steps to find high-quality tenants, you can minimize the likelihood of these negative issues occurring.
Rental Application
An effective rental application is a vital step to weed out potentially problematic tenants. It is a red flag when applicants don’t thoroughly fill out the rental application. It is important to ensure that your rental application asks for employment history, prior rental history, and personal references. Also, ensure that the rental application is clear about your requirements to guarantee that everyone remains on the same page.
Background and Credit Checks
Background and credit checks are incredibly important to help you with assessing new tenants. A tenant with frequent convictions and evictions is not a tenant that you want residing on your property. Undergoing these checks can help you to gauge how reliably a tenant will pay rent and respect your property. Ensure that you verify both the employment and income of your tenants to ensure that they make enough money to pay rent.
Interviews
Interviews are another necessary step in the tenant screening process. By holding in-person interviews, you can gain more insight into your potential tenants. This also provides an aspect of the tenant screening process that can’t be replicated in any other way; a gut reaction to the individual. Trust your instincts and refrain from leasing to a tenant that feels off to you, even if they look good on paper. Effectively screening your tenants can go a long way toward eliminating stress and problems in the long run. Here at Keyrenter, we undergo a comprehensive tenant screening process to weed out potentially problematic renters. To learn more about how to assess new tenants, contact us at the Keyrenter in Annapolis today!