How To Choose the Right Tenants

Posted July 22, 2020

Investment property owners looking to rent out a property often find themselves at a loss when it comes to choosing the right tenants, and with good reason — you’re handing someone the keys to your property, and it’s important to know you can trust them with it.

At Real Property Management Evolve Tucson Tucson, we know how crucial it is to choose the best possible applicant for your property. Here are some steps to take when looking through your applicant pool:

Screen Them

Conducting background and credit checks is a great way to sort through an applicant pool. Often landlords will conduct a “tenant screening report,” which typically combines several checks into one report and can include a credit check, criminal background check, sexual offender background check. employment verification, eviction history and more. Red flags raised by these reports should not be taken lightly.

Note: These checks to not preclude you from adhering to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination against applicants on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or disability.

Steady Does It

Applicants who show a history of frequent address or employment change may not make the best tenants. Look for applicants who stay at least one year at an address before leaving, and at least eight months in one job. This decreases the chance that you will end up with a tenant who cannot pay his rent and must be evicted.

Meet Them

Seeing potential tenants face-to-face is a good way to alleviate any fears you may have about renting to them. You can get to know them a little bit by showing the investment property yourself, but often you won’t get to meet every interested party before they fill out an application. If an applicant sounds promising, you might offer them an interview. This will allow both parties to ask any last questions they might have before you offer them a rental agreement.

Call the Pros

Of course the easiest way to pick the right candidate is to hire a property management service like Real Property Management Evolve Tucson Tucson. Such companies know the market in which they are located, are trained to screen applicants and run background checks, and are experts at spotting the best tenants for your property.

If you are considering renting your property and need help choosing the best tenant, give Real Property Management Evolve Tucson Tucson a call at 520-883-7368.

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