How to Avoid Bad Tenants

Bad tenants will break the rules, cause unjustified damages, and may not pay rent. They could do this because of poor lifestyle choices, low credit scores, bad behavior, etc. Whatever the reasons, you don’t want bad tenants in your rental property. The only question that comes to mind is, as a landlord, how do you avoid bad tenants?

In this short article, we will share with you some tips on how to avoid bad tenants.

Start with your ad.

Yes, your advertising says a lot about you, sometimes too much. Unscrupulous tenants look for ads that scream easy prey. It may be the information in the ad showing how long the home was vacant or the lack of professional photography.  What you want to do is make sure that your marketing is top-tier. Let it appear clean and professional- if you can't do it yourself, call the professionals.

Tenant screening.

One of the most preferred screening methods is a face-to-face meeting. You get to meet potential renters and review vital documents such as the lease, payment, and collection protocol. Physical meetings also allow you to assess tenants before renting your apartment.   You can assess timeliness/tardiness, demeanor, and appearance.

Note: Proper tenant screening may be affected by your personal bias, if you feel this way, you should get property management in Bakersfield to conduct a fair screening.

If a physical meeting isn’t possible, your next best options are through the phone and emails. Their promptness and tone are often good indicators of character.

Rental documents are vital.

Your rental documents are crucial to ensuring that you get the best tenants. You want to be more specific in the lease or rental application, meaning that you should avoid generic yes/no questions.  Spare no details when it comes to gathering all necessary information such as landlord references, permission statements, proof of income, etc. Conduct a thorough background check and follow-up to vet their credibility.

Don’t be too familiar with your tenants.

 While it is great to have good relationships with your tenants, it can backfire in some cases. Some tenants will intentionally ’mistake’ your familiarity for credulity. One way to circumvent this is by using a property management company in Bakersfield to handle rent collection and other duties. This grants you some anonymity and maintains a high level of professionalism.

Regular rental inspection.

You may have set up the best protocols and still have some bad apples in your rental units. The only way to mitigate this is to conduct regular rental site inspections. You can do this annually or biannually- Doing this can discourage unwanted behavior or fish out bad tenants.