What’s the Big Deal About Choosing Tenants…I Just Want My Rent Paid!

By E-Renter Tenant Screening
Posted on December 3, 2008 under Landlord and Tenant FAQs | Be the First to Comment

Choosing tenants is about more than getting your rent paid. If you think the applicant seems like a nice person, checking employment by calling employers yourself might seem like all you need to do.

By taking a little more care, however, your overall experience with being a landlord can be easier, and more profitable. Great tenants will pay the rent, but they will also:

• stay longer (so you have less lost rent between renters)
• pay more promptly
• take better care of your property (which is your investment!).

You can make owning rental property easier and more profitable with tenant screening:

• carefully review each application
• do a tenant background search and check tenant credit report
• check references
• call previous landlords (more than just the current one)
• take time to talk with the tenant, and be clear about expectations on both sides.

You can hire a property management company to do many of these things, but if you do you will still need to make sure you clearly communicate to them what your own expectations are for the kind of tenants they place in your property. You want great tenants, not just good tenants, no matter who manages the process.