Mobile Real Estate: Options, Ideas and Trends for Wanderers

4 Tips to Ensure You Have the Best Tenants on Your Rental Property

by Javier Carter

If you have a rental property, you know that it's about more than just having 100 percent occupation. There are many different kinds of tenants, and some may end up costing you more than they actually bring in rental income. In order to ensure that you have the best tenants for your property, you must act very deliberately throughout the process, from listing to screening to accepting potential tenants. Read on for more details.

1. Place your listing carefully

Placing your ads everywhere will attract all kinds of tenants, so avoid throwing around flyers in town or listing in places like Craigslist. Good tenants will hardly ever seek out such houses. Choose more exclusive advertising spaces, such as real estate websites and guides and home improvement and lifestyle magazines. Such ads may be costly, but it's far better to spend the money to get stable, reliable tenants than to waste more money in late rents and property destruction/vandalism from bad tenants. Take high quality images of your space and promote your location and amenities as well as any offers/deals they will gain by renting from you. Consider using reputed property management companies who have the skill and enjoy goodwill with potential clients.

2. Consider rental property management suites

This is the information age, and today you have an application or software that can do almost anything. Property management software makes your work a whole lot easier, since you have a single location to carry out all your screening. You can use the software to check potential tenants' credit, criminal history and even their rental histories. You want tenants that have a good debt repayment history, have no criminal record and have lived well in previous houses. Move on from tenants that raise any flags.

3. Carry out pre-screening

A good idea might be to initially meet the tenant in a neutral location, such as a local restaurant to carry out a pre-screening before showing them the house. This will help the tenant to appreciate how seriously you take your tenancy. In addition, it will weed out scammers or people interested in causing trouble. Remember that the tenant will be screening you as well – the ball goes both ways.

4. Offer loyal tenants incentives

Once you have a reliable tenant, the next step is making their stay easy so they don't decide to move. You can offer incentives for tenants that introduce new tenants. You can also give value-addition packages such as interior paint jobs or carpet cleaning upon lease renewal for tenants that pay on time. Respond promptly to any complaints raised by tenants and work to ensure common areas are well-maintained.

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