It's that time of year again: time to find new tenants for your rental property. But how do you know when you're getting great tenants?
This is when it's time to start the tenant screening process. Are you aware of all of the tenant screening advantages?
We're here to talk about it. Keep reading to learn all about why you should screen potential tenants before accepting their applications.
Finding High-Quality Tenants
One of your top priorities as a landlord is to find the best possible tenants for your building. You want tenants that can follow the guidelines in your lease, get along with other tenants, and treat the home as if it was their own.
Tenant screening is a great way to ensure that the tenants that you bring onto your property are high-quality as long as you have the right tenant screening questions.
When you screen, you get to look for rental histories, credit scores, income, and even criminal history (though be sure to learn all about legal requirements regarding potential tenants with criminal histories).
Even having a tenant screening process in the first place is often enough to dissuade potentially problematic tenants from trying to move onto your property. That extra barrier to entry will ward off people who won't treat your rental units well.
Lessening the Risk of Missed Payments
If you want to make sure that you get your rent payments on time every month, learning how to screen tenants is one of the best things that you can do. You'll ensure that your new tenants are able to pay with ease.
When you screen tenants, you run a credit check and ask for proof of income (or other finances). If the tenant doesn't have standard employment income, you can ask for bank statements or another form of proof that they're able to pay.
This gives you an extra level of security. Now, it's always possible that tenants will find themselves in hard times and need a payment extension, but it's less likely than if you'd accepted tenants who didn't show any proof of income, employment, or ability to pay.
Avoiding Evictions
No landlord wants to deal with the complicated eviction process. Evictions harm both the landlord and the tenant. Most of the time, evictions are avoidable.
Evictions happen for a wide variety of reasons, but most of the time, it's due to nonpayment or a severe breach of the lease. You can lessen the risk of evictions if you've screened tenants before allowing them to move in.
There's no guarantee that your tenants will be willing to abide by the terms of your lease, but when you look at their rental histories, you'll see if they've ever had an eviction in the past. This isn't a sure sign that they'll misbehave on your property, but it's a red flag that you should keep in mind.
Tenant Screening Matters
The tenant screening process might seem inconvenient, but it can protect both you and your tenants from future trouble. Take advantage of the tenant screening benefits to get high-quality tenants who are happy to pay their rent on time.
Are you looking for help with the tenant screening process and all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into being a landlord in San Mateo? Our team at Five Star Property Management wants to help you! Contact us so we can start working together today.
