What to Avoid When Looking For a Tenant

The quality of a tenant is what makes an investment property profitable. Therefore ultimate goal of an investor is to rent out to a tenant who will pay rent on time and take reasonable care of the property. 

When advertising and showing a property to potential renters Landlord usually ends up with a number of people, willing to rent from him. This is the stage where a major decision has to be made. As a first step, to narrow down the number of options, a small checklist may be developed of things that are NOT desirable in a potential tenant:

• It is probably not wise to rent out to individuals on assistance for a very basic reason that the Landlord cannot go after them for unpaid rent of damaged apartment. As they get minimum living allowance already, welfare assistance cannot be garnished.  

• Extra care should be taken when accepting roommates. Quite often, when move in together, after a little while they start fighting and are no longer able to stay in the same apartment. So very soon the owner ends up having to re-rent the property. One other thing should be kept in mind: it’s nearly impossible to determine who is causing strain, but even if that happened, providing both tenants signed the Lease, Landlord cannot evict only one person, one that’s causing problems. Both tenants will have to leave at the same time.

• Another variable to keep in mind is age of the prospective tenants. Owner has to be very careful if renting out to young people, especially in mature neighborhood. Although there are exceptions, the lifestyle of younger generation may not correspond with settled habits of more mature neighbors.

What You Should Know When Looking for a Right Tenant

Finding a good tenant is the most important task for a residential real estate investor, therefore it is often trusted to a professional property management company. Just by looking at rental application an experienced property manager is often able to spot “flags” which a beginner will not even notice. All those “flags” refer to common sense judgement.

Some are pretty logical; you generally want to get some what mature employed person or a family, preferably with children. Tenants like that usually know what they want, have established lifestyle and budget. They also know what they can afford to spend on rent. Once they moved into an apartment they usually want to stay for a long term. It is always a hassle for families to move; also, as kids go to school, it becomes even bigger problem.

Some of the requirements for potential renters, however, may not be as trivial. A successful property manager will also look for consistency in the amount of rent an applicant paid at the previous location and rental rate he/she is applying for. If there is significant difference in the rents a red light should flash. If a tenant is moving into a considerably more expensive home, question may arise whether or not he will actually be able to afford it. Reasonable explanation should be obtained from an applicant in the opposite situation as well.

Reason of moving is another good question property management staff may have for a potential tenant. As it has been noted before, moving to another location is always a hassle and expense, and a tenant has to have a very good reason to do so.

If you need further assistance of advice with respect to your rental property, please call Kyle (JK Property Management) at 519-755-5677.

Why Hire a Property Management Company When Renting Your House?

One of the first problems an investor faces after purchasing a property is getting it rented. May not sound like a big deal at a glance, but if we break the process  down into steps and take a close look at it, we’ll realize that it involves significantly more work than it seems.

1.Advertising. First step is to make sure your potential tenants are in fact able to find your listing on web-sites and in newspapers. Property Management companies usually have accounts at most popular advertising portals, which may not always be accessible to private landlords.

2.Responding to calls/texts/emails. This step by itself is a full-time job. Depending on the type of property and price point, ads may generate a lot of feedback. Busy home owners may not have ability to respond to all of them in timely manner.  Property Managers, in contrast, usually have staff in charge of it.

3.Showings. Depending on the type of property, a number of showings may be required in order to find a proper tenant. Showings take time which investors don’t always have. Sometimes people wouldn’t show up, even though they made and appointment, which makes this task even more frustrating.

4.Screening. Assume a number of showings have been done, and few applicants want to rent the apartment. What next? In order to protect your investment, a thorough background check of the applicant has to be conducted. Professional Property Management companies have resources to do so, unlike private landlords. Sometimes not only credit, but also criminal check will be needed to confirm suitability of an applicant.

5.Legal paperwork. Last but not least step. Contract is the basis of the lease, the ultimate governing document. Mistakes in the Lease Agreement may cost significant amount of money in the future. Professional Property Managers have properly developed, court tested contracts to protect owner’s rights.

If you ‘re looking for a Property Management company in Brantford, ON, or just need property related advise, please call JK Property Management at 519-755-5677 Kyle. Thank you