Property Management Blog

How Do I Get a Good Tenant in My Winter Park Rental Property? | Tenant Screening Tips from a Professional

Alvin Moore - Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Tenant screening is important because putting a bad tenant in your property can cost you a lot of money. Renovating and repairing the property after a bad tenant has caused damage can be expensive. Chasing down tenants who aren’t paying rent can be expensive. Evictions can be expensive. The best way to avoid these costs is

by placing a great tenant.

Property Management Winter Park: Advertising

Just like with any business, the key to making sure you get good customers is to advertise. It’s very important that you advertise the property heavily so you get a lot of applicants who want to live in your rental home. Professional property managers have a number of resources when it comes to advertising. If you need help, contact a company doing property management in Orlando or Winter Park.

Property Management Winter Park: Screening

Once you have attracted a number of applicants, you need to screen them thoroughly so you can find the best tenant for your property. Be smart about your screening process. Take a look at how the applicant has performed in past rentals. Talk to their former landlords and see if they get a positive rental reference. See if you can determine how the property they are currently living in looks. Ask how long they have been employed, and verify that they earn enough money to meet the rental payments every month. You also want to know how they have handled finances in the past.

Winter Park Property Management: Review Relevant Credit

Credit and credit history are important, but not all credit information is applicable to your rental property. For example, if the tenant is not paying utility bills, electric bills, or library bills, then you might want to deny the application because you know they are not paying attention to the basics. If those things are on their credit, it’s a no-go. However, if they have a foreclosure and they were paying $2,000 a month, but your rental property is $1,000 per month, then there’s a good possibility that the tenants can make those payments because it’s a lot cheaper. So don’t just eliminate applicants based on eviction history or credit scores. Look at every application within the context of what they are applying for and whether they have the ability to maintain payments over the term of the lease.

After you advertise and screen your applicants, you can put the best tenant in your property. If you have any questions about tenant screening or you need help with Orlando property management or Winter Park property management, please contact us at MoreHouse Realty.