Choosing to rent out your home can be a hard choice for many homeowners to make.
In light of recent housing market trends, many homeowners have to down grade their current homes, or homes that were once for sale are now up for rent.
However there are those who have investment properties still; a form of tangible retirement savings.
No matter how you find yourself renting out your property; acquiring a quality tenant should be high atop your priority list.
Now there are the obvious things you should look for such as verifiable income equal to three times the rent amount. Income could be from a job (preferably a job they have been working at for more than six months), social security, food stamps, or retirement benefits; as long as it is verifiable.
Late payments, bounced checks, liens, default judgments, and bankruptcies will all show up on credit reports. Make sure you run credit on everyone who is going to be responsible for rent.
Previous landlords can provide a wealth of information; if they have rented before make sure to call them. Ask them if there were any complaints against them, if they paid their rent on time, and if they would rent to them again
On rare occasions you may have more than one application for your rental, or only one application but you aren’t sure; how do you decide?
The following are just a few examples of attributes you need to pay attention to:
* They were late to their scheduled appointment to view the home. Depending on the circumstances, their lateness could translate to being unconcerned about inconveniencing others and perhaps not fulfilling personal obligations; such as paying rent on time.
* Return phone calls are placed promptly and any questions are satisfactorily cleared up. If you have a question about something on their application, and your messages aren’t returned they could be hard to reach in the future. Arranging convenient times for maintenance could become very difficult.
* When you showed them the residence they and their children, if any, were respectful of the home. Someone who isn’t respectful at the initial showing of the home will not be respectful of it two years from now.
Deciding to become a landlord is a significant decision; as is choosing who to rent to. Hopefully this article has been helpful and educational.
Looking for a great Redding Area Rentals or Red Bluff Rentals? Northern California Property Management is the premier property management in the area. Click on the previous links to learn more about us and our available properties.
Leave a comment