You’ve made the choice and decided that being a landlord is the right step for you to take, and why not? When done right, it can be a lucrative career move, and whether you do it part-time with just one property or you make it your full-time job with a whole portfolio, the general premise is the same. And the one thing that all landlords need is good tenants. If you have those, you can make money; if not, you’ll lose it. So it’s crucial that you do as much as you can to find good tenants and, once they’ve moved in, to keep them for as long as possible. Read on to find out more.
Photo by George Becker from Pexels
Make Sure The Property Is Clean
It might seem like this is a given when you’re looking for good tenants, but it’s actually something that can be forgotten or entirely neglected, and so it’s worth having a reminder. You can’t just assume that the last tenant left things looking good, and that’s why having a check-out and then a full inventory is crucial. The former means that you can compare the property to how it was when you rented it out, and the latter means you’ve got the place in a good state for the next tenants.
With all that being said, making sure that the property is clean and bright will make a big difference not just to how quickly you find tenants, but how well they will treat the property while they’re there. When you find good tenants, they will be the ones who treat the place carefully, and the cleaner it is at the start, the cleaner it will be at the end, saving you time, money, and effort. Plus, if someone likes the property because it’s nice and clean, they give you a good idea of their attitude to keeping house.
Give The House Good Kerb Appeal
When you want to find good tenants and you’ve spent plenty of time getting the inside clean and tidy, don’t forget the outside too. Although not more important than the interior in the grand scheme of things, it will make a difference in that all-important first impression. If you can convince prospective tenants to come and take a look at all that goodness inside, you’re halfway there.
The kerb appeal of a property – how it looks from the outside when you pull up to it or when you see it on a property portal – is vital in this regard. If the photos of the house don’t look good or there is a big mess in the front garden, flaking paint on the property, or any other issues, when someone comes to view, they’re not going to like it. Especially when there is plenty of choice out there, and they could go for something much nicer looking.
Do All The Checks
A tenant might come across as very professional, polite, friendly, and so on. But that doesn’t mean they’re the best people for your property. It’s easy to be swayed by a good reason for needing a property or why they had to leave the last one or anything else, but no matter if true or not, these stories shouldn’t make a difference to whether you let your home to them or not.
When you want to find good tenants, the credit score and the bank account are what will do the talking. Now, of course, you can be flexible when it comes to the credit score, and sometimes it’s wise to be – mistakes happen, and those scores go down much easier than they come up. However, the bank account does not lie, and neither do the payslips. You need to ensure that whoever you install in your property is going to pay. After all, as much as you might like the idea of helping people, this is a business, after all.