Knowing how to find tenants is important, because the tenant you place will determine what kind of experience you have as a landlord. A good tenant is someone who pays rent on time, takes care of your property, and follows the terms of your lease. A bad tenant can leave you with property damage, unpaid rent, and a lot of headaches. Today, we’re talking about how we pick a tenant for your rental property.
Screening Potential Tenants: Meet Your Prospects
It’s easy to do a lot of application processing online. However, meeting people in person is still a great idea, especially when it comes to renting out your house. We recommend that you meet the prospective tenant in person. You can find out a lot about a person by getting together and talking for a few minutes.
Checking Tenant Backgrounds
After you’ve met a prospective tenant and shown the property, the real tenant screening begins. You need to cover all the important details, especially a criminal background check and a credit check. Verify their source of income, and make sure they earn enough to cover the rent for your property. Ideally, you want them to earn between 2.5 and 3 times the amount of monthly rent.
Tenant Screening and Social Media
Take a look at your applicant’s social media pages. See if there is anything strange you might want to consider. For example, if they tell you that they don’t have pets but you see a hundred pictures of their pet Pit Bulls, you might want to follow up with that.
If you have any other questions about how to find good tenants, please contact us at California Pacific Realty. We would be happy to tell you more about our process and serve your Oakland property management needs.
