How Can We Help You?
We have made it to part three of our series! If you missed the other posts, be sure to go check them out – Find the Right Investment Property and Get Your Property Ready to Rent.
You have done your research on the area, purchased a rental property, cleaned every detail, and made sure everything is in working order. Now, it’s time to find your resident! To help you get your property rented so you can start earning an income as a landlord, following are a few tips to keep in mind to find the best resident possible.
Verify Their Income.
One of the most important requirements in place for a prospective resident is making sure they can afford to pay the monthly rent amount that you have put in place. The bottom line is – if you want to earn an income as a landlord, there is a certain amount of money you need to bring in each month. The resident is either able to afford this or not. Unfortunately, you cannot always just take someone’s word for it. The last thing you want to do is get yourself into a situation where a resident has signed the lease, and then you find out they are struggling to come up with the money. Do yourself a huge favor by verifying the income of any potential resident, which really is not difficult. All you have to do is ask for copies of a few recent paystubs. For extra reassurance, you can also contact their employer to confirm their employment and other details.
Check Their Credit.
In some instances, individuals are in a position to rent because their credit score is not good enough to qualify for a mortgage. A not-so-great credit score is not always a complete deal breaker. Life and mistakes happen, and you can often tell when someone is putting forth the effort to improve their credit score. However, a credit check can reveal some very telling information. For example, if they are notorious for paying bills late, this could be a red flag. Additionally, if you see that they have a large amount of debt payments that are due each month, this could impact their ability to come up with the monthly rent amount as well.
Run a Criminal Background Check.
You want your resident to be able to afford the rent, but you also want them to be an upstanding citizen that you can trust in your property. By running a criminal background check, you can easily see if there have been any prior offenses that would make you want to steer clear of doing business with this individual.
Contact Prior Landlords or References.
If you want to see if someone is going to be a good resident, there is no one better to talk to than their prior landlord. This can provide insight on how they took care of the property, if they paid their rent-on time, or how they were to communicate with. If this is their first time renting, you will want to reach out to other references to get a better idea of the person. If they do not have any references, you can always require a co-signer on the lease.