Tips for Finding the Perfect Tenant

 In Property

Whether you’re letting out an apartment, a studio flat or even a large family home, you’ll want to ensure that your property is being rented by tenants who you can trust and get along with. From keeping your property well maintained, to being compatible with your neighbours, to being reliable with rental due dates, there are a number of important traits it’s important for tenants to have in order to make life as easy as possible for you as a landlord.  

If you’re struggling to find the perfect tenants for your property, then 3 Wise Bears have got you covered. Read on to discover some of our top tips to ensure that your property is occupied with renters you can rely on.  

 

Get Creative with Advertising Your Property

When it comes to advertising a property, it can be very tempting to simply place an advert in the local paper, put the word out to a few friends and simply kick back and wait for applications. However, if you do this then you will be drastically reducing the number of potential rental candidates for your property, as well as drastically limiting your choice in tenants. In order to get a wide and versatile pool of property applicants, make sure you go all out with your property advertising. Don’t simply limit your search to your specific area, and instead reach out far and wide. From social media posts to agency adverts, to online forums, get creative and get searching, and you’ll soon find yourself reaping the rewards.


Meet Your Prospective Tenants in Person

First impressions are everything and this is by no means any different when it comes to running a successful buy-to-let business. When you have prospective tenants who would like to rent out your property, make sure that you take the time out to meet them face to face. Rather than having a third party take care of any property tours, volunteer to show them around yourself. This will allow you time to get to know them as people, learn more about them and get a feel for what kind of tenants they may be. Trust your gut here. If you get a bad feeling about them, it may well be worth steering clear of them.

Check Their References

Though this may sound like an obvious step, its importance can’t be overstated. Providing you with direct insight into a person’s character and standing as a tenant, a reference is one of the most important pieces of information you can possess in helping you learn more about potential renters. When checking over references make sure you take the time to thoroughly read each character witness, and where possible talk to past landlords themselves. By spending a little bit of extra time researching the attributes, behaviours and rental histories of applicants, you can gain incredible insight and save yourself a whole lot of time and worry.  

 

Perform Background and Credit Checks

The phrase ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’ is one of the mottos of the landlord industry and there’s good reason for this. Once you’ve met your prospective tenants and read their references, you may want to make them an offer of vacancy, but it’s important here to hold off for a while and bide your time. Performing thorough credit and background checks is perhaps one of the most crucial parts of any tenant search and as such this needs to be completed before any offer is made. When letting out your property, you want to be filling it with individuals who you can trust and rely on, both financially and personally. Performing these checks will give you unrivalled insight into their history, and gives you the best perception of their reliability as prospective tenants.

 

Take a Deposit

Once you have completed and are happy with your checks, talks and overall gut feeling, it’s time to make an offer of accommodation.  However, this is not the final step towards protecting and securing your property. As a landlord, it’s important to establish and set a deposit amount before your tenant can move in. Acting as a safety net, the deposit ensures that should any damages or breakages incur, be they accidental or otherwise, that you are financially protected. Although there is no set amount, it is generally recommended that you ask for between 4-6 weeks worth of rent, as this will provide a soft financial cushioning should a problem ever arise, and allow you to rest easy knowing that both you and your property are protected and secure.

 

If you’re a start out landlord looking for an extra helping hand with your finances, or a busy seasoned property professional who needs some pressure taken off, then make sure you reach out to 3 Wise Bears today and we’ll help you manage, sort and take control of all your property and rental finances.

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