Choosing the Right Tenant for Your Rental Property

If you’ve got a very well-known or very convenient rental property, chances are you’ve got a lot of rental applications to review. However, how will you choose the right tenant for your property?

Oftentimes, guides about the process of tenant selection emphasize on red flags. Of course, these things are crucial. However, you want to choose good ones, not just acceptable tenants. Red flags will not tell you enough.

If you don’t want to hire property management services Rialto to handle this task, here are a couple of things you have to consider:

The Application Process

There are a couple of crucial tasks you’ve got to do on your end before you can begin making decisions about tenant applications. First, you have to guarantee that the process of screening the tenant is legal. There are reasons you cannot rule out tenants, just like job applications. This includes disability, gender, age, ethnicity, or race. Thus, you might not ask these things. Furthermore, you need to have time to set clear standards for what you are searching for in a tenant. There’s a high possibility that you will still have several prospects who meet those standards. However, establishing standards will help you fairly and efficiently move through the process.

Fair screening can be difficult. That’s why professionals suggest using a 3rd-party screening process.

After establishing the process, it is time for you to begin sorting through the applications of your tenants.

Actual References

Landlords will often wait until late in the screening process to start calling the references of the appliance since they do not want to disturb other employers or property managers. You shouldn’t follow this rule. You need to contact references early. Also, you’ve got to listen well. Ask the references questions and listen to nuance and tone. If the tenant gets an actual positive response in the reference, then he/she might be an ideal applicant.

Cosigners

Landlords usually only need a cosigner when renting to college students who might have trouble showing enough income or don’t have a rental history. A couple of millennials might still provide a cosigner even if you don’t ask it. The reason for this is that they might have limited savings or a spotty employment history that has stabilized recently. However, some simply want to offer an additional measure of security.

Ideal Preparation

Rental applications come with many extra documents. Almost every single application out there needs references, proof of identity, bank statements, pay stubs, and much more. Individuals who have all of these documents prepared are ideal applicants. Offering all supporting documentation should be a clear step towards getting accepted into the application process. However, a missing document does not necessarily mean a red flag right away.

On the other hand, if they are not complete with the basic application, it is definitely a red flag. However, applications can often be confusing and some people might have a hard time completing them. Still, it is extremely important to prioritize people who get everything right the first time.