A good tenant is every landlord’s dream. With one, you can rest easy knowing that rent will be paid on time and the property will be cared for. The opposite is true with a problematic tenant. With one, you will be left wondering about the state of your investment while dealing with calls from annoyed neighbors.
That said, the challenge is that every prospective renter acts their best beforehand, especially during the initial walk-through. The only way to ensure that you are getting the right tenant for your Charlotte property is by thoroughly screening each applicant.
There are two options in this regard. The first one is to hire a professional property manager to do it on your behalf. Here, you will be relying on their skills and vast experience. The second option is to do it yourself. Here, you will be able to save money and find the tenants that you personally have approved.
If you are one that prefers the latter option, then this blog is for you. We will take you through the steps you need to follow to land a desirable tenant for your property.
There are many templates available. You can use those available at On-Site or Tenant Data or get a sample from your local real estate association. You could even create your own. It’s easy. You just need to customize any of the templates available on Microsoft Office.
With the application form, your goal should be to know as much information from interested applicants as possible. Such information should include the prospective tenant’s personal, employment, and financial information.
You also want to use it to seek authorization from the tenant to run their credit, criminal, and background reports.
It’s in your best interest to rent to a tenant that is able to pay rent on time, every time. As such, you want to contact the tenant’s employer to verify whether they have a steady, reliable income prior to them signing the lease.
You can have two options to go about this. One, you can request the tenant to provide you a copy of their recent paystub. Or two, you can contact their employer directly to find out more information yourself.
The following are some questions you can ask the applicant’s employer:
Bear in mind that not every employer would be willing to share their employee’s private details with you. However, most (if not all) will be more than willing to confirm whether the applicant works there or not.
Looking into a tenant’s past can also help you gauge their suitability to rent your property.
A background check will enable you to get detailed reports on a tenant’s previous evictions, and criminal and credit history.
State laws vary when it comes to who covers the cost of ordering a background or credit check.
Checking a prospective tenant’s credit report can help you learn important financial details about a tenant, going back seven to ten years. The major national credit bureaus include TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.
When reviewing the credit report, the following are a couple of things to pay attention to:
To find information about the applicant’s rental history, you might need to contact previous landlords. The following are some of the questions you want to ask them:
Last but not least, interview the prospective tenant. Doing it over the phone is the best option, as you want to listen to how the tenant answers your questions. Here are some few questions you can ask them to gauge their suitability:
Screening every prospective tenant is key to a successful leasing process. However, while you want to be as thorough as possible, be careful not to overstep your boundaries. Always keep the Federal Fair Housing Laws in mind.
If you have any more questions regarding the aforementioned information, don’t hesitate to contact us at Dawson Property Management today!
