Now that you’ve got your investment strategy in place, it’s time to gear up for potential tenants in your investment properties. But before you don your landlord hat and start interviewing, it’s crucial to be aware of the local, state, and federal laws that govern discrimination and your screening criteria for tenants. As a landlord, you bear the responsibility of being informed about these laws.
Undoubtedly, every investor aspires to find the ideal tenant – someone who never causes damage and pays rent promptly, renewing their lease year after year. No matter how strong your investment strategy is, an unreliable tenant can endanger your income stream. In essence, good tenants are the foundation of flourishing real estate investment portfolios.
However, with hundreds of applicants to sift through, how do you identify these exceptional tenants? Read on as we examine four essential tips for interviewing prospective tenants for your rental property in Belleville.
Prescreen
Our first tip for interviewing prospective tenants for your rental property in Belleville is to conduct a prescreening. Processing applicants can be expensive, so narrowing down the candidates in advance can save time and money. During this stage, explain the approval process, request that they fill out an application, clarify the criteria you’ll use for approval, and inform them of what to expect if approved. Inform the applicants that you will be performing a thorough background and credit check, as well as contacting their references. Often, just the possibility of thorough scrutiny will deter many unqualified applicants. If they remain interested after this point, it’s likely that they’re not worried about what you’ll discover in your investigation.
Background and Credit
During the initial application process, it’s vital not to rely on your intuition or skip a step because you have a good feeling about a prospective tenant. This brings us to our next tip for interviewing potential tenants for your rental property in Belleville. Firstly, conduct a thorough background and credit check on every applicant. Prior evictions should be a warning sign, but you should remain impartial in your evaluation and judge each case on its merits. Life events can cause setbacks in our credit history, so it’s important to take into account how the applicant has addressed their credit issues. If an applicant has a criminal record, it’s essential to consider the type of crime committed and how much time has elapsed since the last incident, particularly if the person has already paid their debt to society.Take the time to ensure that you’re not placing someone with a lengthy and uninterrupted history of violent crimes into your properties.
References
When it comes to interviewing potential tenants for your rental property in Belleville, it’s crucial to contact every reference and allow them to express themselves freely. Rushing for responses can result in crucial information being overlooked, so take your time. Personal connections can offer insights into a tenant that no application can provide. It’s important to seek out personal contacts, which may offer insights into the type of lifestyle your prospective tenant enjoys, provide information on their employer for stability, and contact previous landlords to learn about their experience with the applicant as a tenant. These references can provide valuable information that can help you determine whether a potential tenant is a good fit for your property and investment strategy.
Cardinal Creek Properties
Our final tip for interviewing prospective tenants for your rental property in Belleville is to consider hiring Cardinal Creek Properties as your property manager. There are no better experts in interviewing potential tenants than professionals in the field, such as those at Cardinal Creek Properties. With a proven tenant screening system already in place at Cardinal Creek Properties, there is no need for you to begin from scratch. If you’re ready to entrust this critical aspect of property management to the professionals, Cardinal Creek Properties is here to assist you. Contact Cardinal Creek Properties at (314) 467-8137 to learn more.