Tips For Landlords on Finding the Right Tenant
DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A SUCCESSFUL LANDLORD?
There are Landlords who know what they are doing and then there are those who don’t. If you are a Landlord, then this piece is here to help you find a ‘good’ tenant for your property.
Credit Check
Numbers don’t lie. Tenants who are financially responsible are less likely to skip their payments. It is imperative that you run a credit check on a potential tenant.
Fully Filled Out Rental Application
The more relevant information that you can obtain from your potential tenant the more sources you will have to refer to during difficult times. Your Real Estate agent has a two page Rental Application form which asks for all the relevant information and should be fully filled out.
Residential Tenancy Agreement
Every landlord uses (we hope) a tenancy agreement. You must cope with the fact that a Residential Tenancies Act is in place to protect the tenant, not you. As of April 30, 2018 All residential leases are to be signed on Standard Lease Agreement, which is provided by government of Ontario. You can get a copy of it here.
Tenants Initial Behaviour
Did the tenants arrive on time? If they are late, will they be late with their payments? While not a deal breaker, we would take that into consideration.
Did they take off their shoes? If you have to ask them to take off the shoes, that might be a good indication of what will happen to the property when you are not around!
Kids
If tenants are planning to move in with kids, observe the kids behaviour. Are they jumping all over, mashing everything in their way? Now, again, imagine what will happen when you are not around!
Tenant’s car
When meeting tenants or walking them back to the car take a quick note of the backseat (if possible!). This technique has been proven time and time again to show that those with extremely messy cars will often do the same to the place they live in.
Take your time
Don’t settle on a less than ideal tenant because your unit might stay vacant. While nobody enjoys paying for a vacant unit, the cost of a bad tenant could result in a much higher cost by the time it is all set and done.
Those who don’t, time to start using Google!
It is incredible how much information is out there online. Not only your tenant is probably ‘online’ but his employer and references are too!
While, these tips are crucial and must be noted, ultimately you as a landlord must treat your rental property as a business. And much like any business you can choose to run it well or poorly, and that choice is yours!