How to find the perfect tenant for your rental property
We share our thoughts for the best way to ensure you pick the right people for your property.
There are many concerns for landlords when renting out a property.
Will the tenant pay? Will they look after the property? Will I have to do loads of repairs?
Some landlords are more cautious than others, but even the most experienced will want to ensure that they have a good letting experience and that the tenancy is a success.
Half of the battle is finding the right tenant in the first place.
If you get this bit right, the rest of the tenancy should run smoothly.
Don't just take the first tenant that comes along.
Once the property has been advertised and you have many applications, how do you know if you are picking the right tenant?
Trust your gut instinct. It is seldom wrong!
When you first meet someone, you get a feel for whether you like each other, get on well, etc. It is no different with a tenant. They could potentially live in your property for 10 years, but they definitely won't if you don't like each other.
Behaviour
Are they respectful? Do they have good manners and common decency? This is often shown by offering to remove shoes before they enter the property. What if they are late for the appointment? Did they call to let you know? Did they apologise? Although it doesn't really matter if someone was stuck in traffic for a few minutes, it is a sign of respect that they were bothered that they were making you wait and were concerned enough to let you know.
Honesty and trustworthiness
This point is crucial and comes back to the gut instinct in many ways. There is nothing that you can really do to check this, but you must trust your tenant. It will be a stressful and probably relatively short tenancy if there is no trust there. Without trust, you will be second-guessing everything all the way through the tenancy. On the other side of that coin, when you and your tenant trust each other, you know that their rent is going to be paid, and they will also trust you. They will know that you will handle repairs whenever needed and treat them and the property fairly.
References
This goes without saying really, everyone knows that you should get references. Your agent will obtain full references for you and identify any potential concerns that are brought up. Often there will be a few things to look into in further detail on a reference, so double-check anything that you are unclear about.
The aim when selecting your next tenant is to paint a picture of the person.
Who are they? Where do they work? Do they have a family? Pets? Hobbies?
Look into any historical tenancies, and how did those tenancies go?
It is not to pass judgement on people but to establish if they will be a good fit for you as a landlord, your property and the area and neighbours.
Most landlords are looking for a longer-term tenant that pays the rent and looks after the property, so you are trying to find someone that will fit these requirements.
You and your tenants must be a good match, so take your time and ask as many questions as you need to build up that picture.
It is also a chance for your tenant to get to know you. They will want to see that you are a reliable landlord that will look after the property correctly.
In a way, you are interviewing each other for the 'job' of tenant and landlord.
And your agent will be able to help match the perfect tenant to your property. You can trust them to be your eyes and ears.
Get in touch with our lettings team for more information.
