Avoiding Unnecessary Stress By Choosing the Right Tenant

Some property managers are just happy to have found a new tenant for their property. However, because they didn’t take the proper precautions beforehand, the tenants tend to be late paying rent, are destructive to the property, and even participate in illegal activity, in which case a bad situation becomes a nightmare. However, these situations can be avoided with a little research into exactly who you’re dealing with beforehand.

Avoid Discrimination

First of all, you need to be fair. Make sure you’re not picking your tenant based on national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. It is against the law! Property managers are never guilty of this, but prejudice and bias have an uncanny way of creeping into our decision making, and you don’t want to let them dictate who you deem worthy to rent your property.

Tenant’s Employment

Enquire into the tenant’s employment status. Call their stated place of employment and cross-reference their pay amount with what they have placed on the application. Ask questions such as, are they trustworthy, are they respectful, are they reliable? You can even go as far as asking if the tenant has a high level of job security – to make sure they have the abilibty to pay the rent on time!

Tenant’s Rental History

Check out a tenant’s rental history. They should list this on their application so it should be easy to simply call the landlord and ask if the rent was paid on time, if the property was left in good condition, if they were respectful of their neighbours and if they complained often.

National Tenancy Database

These databases are used by property managers to keep a log of bad tenants. Be sure to have your property manager screen your tenant through the database to ensure they are not recorded or blacklisted.

Consistency

Lastly, look for consistency in their behaviour. Ask them questions beforehand, and if in your research you found them to be answered honestly, you at least know that the renter is trustworthy. Take everything you’ve learned into account.  If they move or switch jobs often, all the signs point to them not being a long-term tenant. Be fair, but also critical. A bad tenant can create a fair amount of undue stress. It’s much better to appoint a Leasing Specialist to find you the tenant.

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