While finding potential renters across most cities in America has generally not been difficult over the past few years, finding good tenants is often a struggle. Problem tenants cost landlords hundreds or even thousands of dollars in fees, legal action, and repairs every single year.
You may end up with tenants that do not pay the rent on time, causing more problems for you as you try to make your own payments. You may also end up with tenants that do not respect the property or ones that cause headaches for the neighbors and further endanger your reputation as a landlord.
That’s why finding renters that are right for you is crucial. If you are looking to rent out a property to ensure smooth sailing throughout the tenancy or want to know how to replace tenants quickly, this is the guide for you.
1. Get the Rental Listing Right
When trying to find potential tenants, the listing is the most important thing to get right. This is how you are selling your apartment or home to the world. When writing up a listing, you should keep your ideal tenant in mind and market aspects of the property that will appeal to them.
If the apartment is well-insulated from street noise and is in a safe area, this will appeal to quieter tenants who prioritize security. Make sure that your listing is of a high quality so that exceptional tenants won’t be put off. Avoid spelling and grammar mistakes, use a professional tone, and always use a wide array of quality, honest photos.
By partnering with a results-focused property management company like Genuine Property Management, you leave crafting powerful listings and using only the highest quality media to the professionals.
2. Advertise for Potential Renters in the Right Places
The key to finding more potential renters is to advertise your property in the right places. When advertising online, always pay a listing fee with a quality site, rather than relying on free sites. You are much more likely to attract quality tenants when you advertise on sites such as Zillow, Cocoran and Rentals.com.
Be very wary of advertising on free sites such as Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, as these are notorious for apartment scams and are generally avoided by more discerning tenants. When tenants are looking for tips for finding rentals, they will be directed to quality sites, which is where you need to be.
Partnering with an experienced rental home management company can ensure you only list your property on the best sites available.
3. Offer Move-In Perks
Put simply, it is no longer a seller’s (or landlord’s) market across many rental markets in the U.S. That is why landlords and developers in cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami are now bending over backward to offer juicy move-in perks to the right tenants. No matter where your property is located, you should consider doing the same.
This could mean offering freebies such as the use of building amenities or discounted Wi-Fi. It could mean throwing in some quality appliances or electronics. It could mean offering a voucher that tenants can use to buy furniture. These are all tried-and-tested perks that have successfully attracted the right tenants for landlords across the country and helped them maintain their monthly income.
4. Use a Thorough Renters’ Application
You should be able to flag when a potential tenant is not the right fit for you. While you must take every step necessary to avoid tenant discrimination, as stipulated by the Fair Housing Act, you can use a renters’ application to determine a potential tenant’s suitability while remaining on the right side of the state and local laws.
The rental application can be a simple form of Google Doc that requires the prospective tenant to fill out essential information and introduce themself to you. When drafting a rental application, you should make sure to include space for:
- The applicants’ name, occupation, and date of birth
- The applicants’ social security number
- The applicants’ previous addresses
- Sources of income and previous pay stubs (going back at least three months)
- Number of children and/or dependents
- Number of pets
- Any accessibility arrangements that you should be aware of
- Rental history and references (preferably from professional connections or previous landlords)
Before signing a lease agreement with your preferred tenant, it’s vital you go through a stringent tenant screening process too. This includes:
- Checking the tenant’s family status to ensure the number of residents in your property complies with housing laws.
- Pulling up the tenant’s credit report and analyzing their credit score.
- Carrying out a background check on the signing tenant.
- Contacting previous landlords to find out what sort of tenants they were.
5. Require Rental Insurance
When choosing a tenant, it is important to ensure that you are covered in the event that things go sour. If you accept a tenant and ask them to send the security deposit, make sure that they provide proof of renters’ insurance before doing so. Renters’ insurance covers the costs if anything is destroyed or damaged during move-in and moving out.
It also covers the costs of damage caused to the property during the tenancy. Renters’ insurance is cheap and easy to acquire, so your tenant should have no excuse for not providing it.
6. Wait for the Check to Clear
This one might seem like an obvious one, but it is important to stress, nonetheless. Ideally, you should not be accepting personal checks for a deposit and the first month’s rent. It is better to request a cashier’s check or money order. However, if you do accept a personal check, do not stop marketing the property until that check has cleared.
Even if you think you have found the perfect tenant, you should absolutely sit tight and see if the check clears before allowing them to move in. Landlords who have failed to do this in the past have regretted it.
7. Hire a Realtor
Even if you are a small landlord renting out a single investment property in Orange County, hiring a realtor can make the world of difference. A realtor will take care of the entire process of finding a suitable tenant for you. If there are any issues during the tenancy, the renter communicates with the realtor, rather than with you.
A realtor or professional solutions from a property management company will take care of the application process and will properly screen a tenant before accepting them, saving you valuable time and resources. While realtors will, of course, charge a fee for their services that is usually a percentage of the rent, this is often a small price to pay for a top-quality service that removes the stress of finding potential renters from your mind completely.
To increase your pool of potential renters and streamline your rental property management, contact Orange County’s leading Genuine Property Management today.