7 Tips For Landlords And Choosing Your Tenants To Avoid Disaster

We get a lot of calls from landlords who need to clean up their property because of tenants who left a mess, hoarded or physical damage and I thought it might be worth doing 7 Tips for Landlords from my own personal successful tenant management program. This will avoid common mistakes landlords make choosing tenants and eliminate the expensive cleaning up and repairing from nightmare tenants that could have been avoided.  

1. Advertising
   1. Price it 10% below market rent – avoids tenants doing value shopping and moving out all the time.
2. Applications – use a professional tenant application form and MUST get:
   1. Official letter from employer on company letterhead, signed and dated stating good standing and number of years employed – less than 2 years ask for previous employer.
   2. Bank letter stating good standing.
   3. Permission to do a credit check – then do it.
   4. Name of present landlord with address, phone number – then call to find out what your prospect was like.
3. Red Flags that warrant rejecting the application:
   1. Unwilling to provide requested information.
   2. Telling you they will move in NOW with cash.
4. Sorting through applications:
   1. Choose the 3 best applicants
   2. Arrange to visit them at their current home to see their housekeeping standards. If they refuse, reject their application.
   3. When you arrive ask to see their driver licence to verify this is their actual current home – for couples, both should provide driver licence with same address – if they refuse, reject them and leave.
   4. They may charm you, but this is business – get past that and be rational – use your Spidey senses – do you want them as tenants.
5. Signing the lease.
   1. Make sure you use a professional lease.
6. Collecting rent – make sure your prospect understands the following and which should be in the lease:
   1. Etransfer by the 1^st – not a minute later.
   2. Day 2 file an eviction notice – this is an important legal step.
   3. Know the landlord tenant act inside out.
7. Inspections:
   1. Inspect weekly during the 1^st month even just a drive-by – are they behaving or signs of property abuse starting.
   2. After one month do monthly furnace filter checks (and inspections) – Are they living like decent human beings or are they slowly turning your home into a landfill site inside and out.
   3. After 6 months you will know they are good tenants or not.

Your property is an investment that can be destroyed less than a year and cost you $10,000 or more to cleanup and repair.

Remember, being a landlord is a business – keep your tenant relations professional and don’t get “emotionalled” when you have to turf them out.

Use my 7 Tips and you will be a happy landlord.

Thank you and good luck.