Tenant Screening Part 2
Showing the Property
Once the tenant signs the rental agreement, you will have many interactions with them during their period of stay in the house. Irrespective of how perfect they sound during the first contact, it is always better to meet them and get a feel of their personality. This is a good opportunity to screen the tenant before any paperwork is done.
The tenant will be more concerned in looking at the property in details and its suitability for him and his family. Some watchful observations by the Landlord will be extremely helpful when considering the tenant’s application.
(i) Did the tenant arrive on time?
(ii) Is the tenant neat and clean?
(iii) Did the tenant take off the shoes or wipe his feet shoes when entering the house?
(iv) His attitude and manners – Does he show any signs of being difficult to deal with in future?
(v) Are the children well behaved?
Know your Tenant Form
The tenant who does not give any red signal and is interested, can be given an application. The rental application process will further determine if they will be good tenant. You can collect a sample application form from Agile Property Management (Know your Tenant Form) or can create your own application. You have to make sure that the form contains all the details that you need to know about the tenant – his personal, financial and employment information.
(i) Personal Details
You have to include in the form all the basic details that you need to know about the tenant like name, age, number of family members, contact details, native, how long has he been in the current city and all the relevant data that you feel you need to know about the tenant.
(ii) Employment Details
Make sure to include the current employment details of the tenant – company, designation, contact numbers, length of service.
(iii) Financial Details
You need to check on his income and check whether it is sufficient to cover the rent and the normal living expenses. Some indirect questions like – Do you have any permanent address? Or Do you have your own house in native?
(iv) Previous Owner Details
The contact details of the previous owner, contact number, rent paid, reason for leaving and duration of stay with the previous house.
(v) Reference
Names, relationship, period of acquaintance, contact numbers.
You have to carefully read all the applications to check for any inconsistencies or disqualifying factors. For example if the tenant is unemployed and has other source of income, then you may need more information. You can have direct reference checks with the house owner or employer or the references that are provided in the application by the tenant.
Search on Google to confirm the existence of the company that he has mentioned in his application. Look for ways to confirm his income, such as letter of employment from his company. There are also other ways to check on his employment for instance telling him to send a mail from his official ID with company id. Checking in from Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ are a few of the ways to get more information and confirmation about the tenant.
We do not mean you to become a detective when you meet a new prospective tenant. Use your instincts and try to get a feel for the tenant cross verifying them with the facts given in the application along with the facts that had come to surface when you had a conversation with the tenant. Also do not overstep your boundaries which can put you at a risk of losing the tenant if he feels that you are intruding in to his privacy.
Conclusion
Summarising up the entire process
1. Prequalify the tenant.
2. Show the Property to the Tenant.
3. Get the feel of the personality of the tenant.
4. Get the application form filled in by the tenant
5. Check in for any red flags or discrepancies
6. Do reference checks / employment checks / house owner checks
7. Fill in the Police Verification Form
8. Draft a Proper Lease Agreement
9. Collect the Security Deposit
10. Handing over the Keys to the Tenant.