Your search results

Property Management – Chatsworth – Find the Perfect Tenant

CHATSWORTH PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Finding and Loving The Perfect Tenant

If you’re in the business of buying investment properties for rental purposes, then finding the right tenant is going to be the key to your success. Finding and loving thy tenant doesn’t mean accepting any person who shows an interest in your property or accepting any old excuse from poor performers and problem tenants.

Finding and loving thy tenant starts way back during the marketing phase, when you’re prepping your rental property for market. This is where the process starts when attracting the right tenants – something I alluded to in my prior post on boosting the curb appeal of your rental property.

A rental property in poor shape, falling apart with junk in the garden is only going to attract desperate tenants who’re usually desperate for a reason, which isn’t necessarily in your long-term interest.

Attracting the right tenant with a well presented property is only the first step. The more crucial step is separating the wheat from the chaff.

A working tenant whose been in the same job and lived in the same area for several years is likely to be a better tenant than someone whose moved around a lot and can barely keep hold of a job. But what really matters is the details you can’t see – their performance paying bills, maintaining good neighbour relations, and looking after the property. This information can only ever come from unvested parties who have had to deal with the tenant before.

Forget about the prior landlords – all too often, they’re more than willing to give you a positive spiel to get rid of a problem tenant. Go back further to their landlord prior to the last, or request mortgage statements if they owned a property previously, get references from their jobs, banks and utilities. Do thorough credit checks through reputable agencies, and only when all these come back positive should you move onto the next step.

What’s the next step? It’s the setting expectations of both parties. Don’t just have the tenancy signed and leave it as job done. Go through each paragraph to ensure understanding from the tenant. Make it clear about your expectations, inspection schedules and how you expect them to handle maintenance issues. Too many times I have witnessed landlord and tenant’s relations break down because of a breach of the tenancy, which the tenant was unaware of, because they never took the time to read and understand it.

If all is well by this stage, then well done! Now you’ve found the ideal tenant, now is the time to really love thy tenant. If you deal with problems as soon as they arise, carry out regular informal checks and keep on top of rent issues, chances are, you’ll not encounter any serious problems barring those outside either yours or your tenant’s influence, and if you’ve taken out rental insurance or a rental guarantee, then even these eventualities should be covered.

By M James Airey

Since 1946 the Carnahan name has had a reputation for honest and ethical Real Estate Property Management services in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Burbank/Glendale, Los Angeles, Westside and Conejo Valley areas.

The reason for our success is helping owners like you when they need it. Below is a partial list of property management services we provide to help you protect your real estate investment.