Whether you are engaged in business as a Realtor or you are a property owner interested in letting out your property to tenants directly, you need to know what to look for in a would be tenants. Professionals in the real estate business have standard procedures for extracting the necessary information from a would be tenant and should be able to carry out the necessary pre screening. Of course, these services are rendered for a fee but they do take a lot of pressure off the landlord. But whatever the case may be, you need to start educating yourself as to what to look for in a person who desires to rent your property.
First things first. Let’s look at something’s some people look at that I believe are not really major. One of such things is the place the tenant comes from (state or tribe). Although individuals might have had some negative experiences with a person or group from certain areas, the fact is that no particular community is 100% full of saints. Every community has their own fair share of deviants and a potential tenant should be evaluated on more objective parameters.
Another common discriminatory issue is that against single parents. In this part of the world, some people opine that single parents are irresponsible. This is simply not true. In fact, many single parents are hardworking and highly focused.
These issues aside, you need as much basic information as possible to enable you pre-screen potential tenants. A simple personal data form that asks simple but revealing questions should be given to all potential tenants to complete and sign.
Some of the questions should include their work place, their former residence and why they want to rent the property.
Often times, a tenant who had a bad track record with his or her former landlord would be hesitant to reveal these details. The form should contain a signed consent to your verification of the information stated in the form. Another revealing question is that on the occupation. Ensure that the address is comprehensively stated.
The essence of knowing the work place of your would be tenant is to enable you make an informed guess as to his ability to pay you his rent regularly.
Remember that the first rent is not the issue it is the subsequent rent. And there are certain individuals with no discernable source of income, business or professional, who deliberately rent properties with the mindset of not paying beyond the initial rent.
This reminds me of an individual who wanted to rent a three bedroom apartment from a realtor and after been told the rent and associated fees was ready to pay immediately.
The realtor refused and asked him to complete the standard personal data form used by that firm. He was told that he would receive a call from the firm if they believe he could rent the apartment. As soon as he left, the firm despatched one of their staffs to the address he stated on his form to verify the information. They discovered that all the addresses were wrong and when they attempted to confirm the addresses from the man he became evasive. Imagine if the property had been rented to such a person.
Where a person states that he or she is working in a particular organisation, it makes sense to confirm such information. Also, you can demand for a letter of reference or introduction from a well placed superior in that office.
As a landlord or landlords representative you can request for referees from your potential tenant who are expected to confirm that they know the person and are willing to give an undertaking on that persons behalf.
The essence of this is to evaluate the level of trust certain people have in such a person. Such undertakings or referee forms should have a space for the attachment of the referees passport photograph.
Finally, a tenant who has a good track record in his former apartment should not be afraid or reluctant to provide his potential new landlord the details of such an apartment and should not mind any form of due diligence or background check you choose to carry out on him. In addition, keep your eyes open for subtle clues based on the person’s demeanour, relationship with spouse and general attitude during your face to face interaction. The wisdom of all these is that it is better to be wary than to be sorry.
The wazua spirit as members is to educate and inform and learn from others within the limit of what we know in any chosen area irrespective of our differences in tribes, nationalities, etc. .