How To Choose The Right Tenant For Your Condo?

Thinking that profiling tenants is a no-brainer could set one's business up for failure. The process continues beyond the property showing in order to know if the renter likes the property. The landlord-tenant relationship revolves around you and the best tenants you could find. One is lucky to find someone who can afford to pay one year's rent in advance but not so lucky if the couches and beds are left stained and tattered.

You get someone with a great background, and you know they would take care of the property, but it could be better on the part where the rent is two months due. Like in the movies, there should be interviews for the landlord or owner and tenant to get on the same page.

Screen Potential Tenants.

1. Be sure to screen potential tenants by performing background checks on their employment and rental history as much as possible. Most, if not all, of their personal information, must be verified.
2. Asking about the monthly income is a way to gauge whether the person can really afford to pay rent. The question about how much one makes must be understood because, as a business owner, the tenant must only be taking on a financial responsibility that's more than one can qualify with.

Use a standard tenant application form.

1. If you want to go extra diligent, a standard application form can help you compare prospective tenants' information. This is also a good way to professionalize the systems in your rental business.
2. The landlord or property manager uses the application to gather information about the tenant, such as their personal information, rental history, employment status, and applicant income. The primary use of a tenant application is to help the landlord or property manager assess whether the tenant is a suitable candidate for renting the property.

Check References.

1. As a condo owner, due diligence is crucial to ensuring the property is in the right hands. Contact the prospective tenant's previous landlord and employer to find out whether they were responsible if they paid rent on time and if they took care of their previous rental property.
2. Looking into previous landlord-tenant relationships is one way to screen them, especially when it is observed that moving out is too urgent. Given the number of previous landlords, eviction history must be examined.
3. Criminal records are also important as you let someone make use of your property for a while. What happens inside the property would not be well-monitored for some time. People cannot be naïve about what people are capable of doing. Remember that even though someone else lives on the property, the owner's name is still on the line.
4. So securing the tenants' identification documents and police clearances could lower the odds that someone with a criminal record is about to make use of the property.

Meet in person.

1. Interview the tenants and have a face-to-face conversation with them. Be sure to ask them about their lifestyle and habits to ensure that they are a good fit for your condo. If the person travels a lot, then making sure that paying the rent on time is taken care of by making wired transfers.
2. Suppose the frequent travel makes them consider renting out your property while they are away. In that case, the owner and prospective renters need to negotiate if it is even negotiable. Some owners prefer that a tenant would not do a sublease for the reason that they need to know who's going in and out of the rental property. Booking applications help find quality tenants by requiring submission of IDs; Credit checks could also tell the tenant's ability to sustain the paying of monthly rent without having to do this.

Check their status within the family and their finances.

As one is being interviewed or spoken to, whether they are comfortable talking about money or happy about how the family is doing is immediately observed.

Family status

In terms of family setup, a landlord or owner needs to know about this to avoid overcrowding and noise complaints as it is inevitable when so many people live in the property. One could talk about normal wear and tear, however as compared to having just enough tenants in the property from that of an overcrowded one--property damage and maintenance issues when it has so many people in the room.

Talks about how the family is doing and who works on what could also reveal if the one you are talking to is the sole breadwinner or if the wife and husband have more than enough to cover the usual expenses of people living in the area.

Financial Status

• Ask for a verification of employment and a credit report to ensure that your potential renters have a stable income and financial stability. One way of ensuring that a prospective tenant can afford rent is by requiring a security deposit.

Security Deposit.

1. The purpose of this is to protect the landlord or owner in case the tenant fails to fulfill their obligations under the lease which could include causing damage to the property or not paying rent.
2. Picture walking into the property after a year of giving the tenant some space; immediately, you smell the yellowing tar on the walls, which came from the tenants' daily smoking of cigars.
3. The need to repaint needs to be covered. Without it, the tenant left you with a huge cost to take care of the property and make it livable again. In some cases, the landlord or owner may deduct money from the security deposit to cover any damages or unpaid rent, but they must provide a detailed list of deductions and receipts for any repairs made.
4. This is also a straightforward way of determining if the person has sufficient income to cover the monthly rent and if the person can uphold the lease term compared to simply looking into a good credit score, background check, and criminal history.

Trust your gut feeling.

If you have any doubts or negative feelings about the potential tenant, trust your intuition, and look for a tenant who fits your requirements better. Earning is sweet, but finding tenants who would honor the lease agreement by paying on time and caring enough to look after the rental property with their initiative could go a long way in maximizing the condo for rent. The ideal tenant would have a proven track record of renting a condo as if it were their property.

Outsource the tenant screening process to Property Management.

1. Well, of course, you don't have to do all the work. From marketing to screening, payment processing, and maintenance requests, Property managers could provide leverage for business owners. This is done by condo owners who do not live in the property because they bought it as an investment.
2. The primary goal of property management is to maximize the property owner's return on investment by maintaining the property's value, minimizing expenses, and ensuring that responsible and reliable renters fully occupy the property. Property managers are also responsible for ensuring that the property complies with all relevant local laws and regulations and handling any legal issues that may arise. If you have all the time to spare to study how these all work, doing other important things that match your skills is still a priority.
3. Overall, property management plays a crucial role in the successful operation of a real estate investment. It requires diverse skills, including communication, financial management, maintenance, and legal knowledge.

In summary, good renters honor the lease terms and make timely and regular rent payments. They notify the landlord beforehand regarding things that might break the lease terms. Good tenants have no criminal record that could endanger the owner and the succeeding tenants; are respectful to their neighbors; follow community rules and regulations and avoid any disruptive or problematic behavior; and should be responsible and take care of the property, reporting any maintenance issues promptly and keeping the property clean and well-maintained.

Knowing these few ways to pick a good tenant allows you to feel at ease while a stranger enjoys the property you worked so hard to earn. Finding the best tenant type is easy as long as they can afford to pay rent.

Vista Residences offers worry-free leasing and management of your unit—one good way to bring back more than your money's worth. Utilizing the SpacesLEASING sets a condo owner three steps ahead of the others.

For more information on Vista Residences, email [email protected], follow @VistaResidencesOfficial on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, or call the Marketing Office at 0999 886 4262 / 0917 582 5167.