Finding the best tenants for your Redmond rental property will ensure you have a good experience as a landlord. The tenant screening process starts before you even begin advertising. Here’s what you need to do to ensure you get a high quality tenant:
Have a Rent Ready Property
Get your property in excellent condition before it goes to market. You want it to show well and have good curb appeal. The lawn needs to be well-manicured and the bushes should be trimmed. Do a little mulching, and blow off the driveway. Then you want to make sure the interior is thoroughly cleaned. Have the carpets shampooed and apply new paint if necessary. Everything must also be working properly in the home. By spending a little time on this in advance, you will attract the best tenants. A property in great condition takes better pictures and always shows better. You really want to find the tenants who are interested in well-maintained properties because they are more willing to keep the property looking good.
Screen Tenants Thoroughly
Once you have a good number of tenants to choose from, make sure you screen thoroughly. Don’t take anyone at their word, and do a full background check. We recommend using a third party screening company. There are a couple available in the area. You can dictate what they screen for. We look at criminal history, including sex offender history. We ask for a credit score, current employment, and we look at any debt to income ratio and rent to income ratio. It’s also important to screen for unlawful detainers or evictions. All of this background information generates a score. If it’s a passing score we know with certainty that it’s a good tenant and we shouldn’t have any lease enforcement issues or rent issues.
If you take the simple steps of prepping the property, advertising it in as many places as possible, and doing a good quality screening, you have the best chances to find good tenants. Good tenants make happy landlords.
If you have any questions about tenant screening in Redmond, please contact us at SJA Property Management.
