5 Tips to Help Screen Tenant Applicants For Your Rental Property

02 Mar 5 Tips to Help Screen Tenant Applicants For Your Rental Property

When it comes time to rent your property, it can be hard and even exhausting to sort through all of the tenant applications you receive. 

Here are five signs that you can look for and identify easily, ensuring that your applicant will be a good fit for your rental property. 

1. They Fill Out the Application Completely and Correctly

This may sound incredibly simple and you might tend to brush this off but a sign of a good potential tenant is that they fill out the application completely. This means they have included all requested documents and filled out the application properly. 

Being reliable and responsible is a good sign whereas not being able to complete an application correctly and skipping or leaving things out on an application can be a bad sign, especially because this is the very first step in the application process. 

2. They Tend to Stay in One Place

It’s important to know how often your potential tenant has moved in the past. You want to choose someone who has stability and is responsible. If you notice that they have moved around a lot in the past, this may be an indication that they might not have had a good relationship with their landlords and were disruptive.

3. Good References Come With a Good Tenant

One of the best ways to tell if the possible tenant is responsible and will be a good tenant is by checking the references. Did they pay their rent on time? Did they do any damage to the property? If the landlord sounds like they are posing as a landlord, do a little research. Don’t be afraid to Google the name, number, and address. A big red flag is if any of the references don’t match up.

4. An Unblemished Background Check

Not all states allow for background checks so you’ll have to check with yours regarding this. If yours allows, a good tenant will have a clean criminal record with no past issues. If there have been many run-ins with the law, you may also have to deal with this problem as well. This is all to be done at your own discretion. 

5. A Positive Credit Report

Credit reports are important because they allow you to see the habits and nature of late or skipped payments. Overlooking a credit check is the biggest mistake a landlord can make. If your possible tenant isn’t currently paying their bills, it’s more than likely they won’t be able to pay their rent as well. 

While it takes a little bit of patience to find a valid tenant, it’s worth it in the long run for your rental income and peace of mind. Using these five tips will help you have an easier screening process and help you weed out the good tenants from the bad. 

Don’t want to deal with the stress of finding a new tenant? Let Sound Choice Handle it!

If you’d like some help from our team of professionals at Sound Choice Real Estate please Click Here or give us a call at 850-389-8533 to Contact Us.Sound Choice offers full-service property management in Niceville, Destin, Crestview, Fort Walton Beach and the surrounding areas. We are dedicated to providing a maximum return on your investment and eliminating hassle and stress.