Vetting Tenants — How we protect the landlord’s interests.

In Backyard_Boats, our management staff prefers to work with good tenants. Here are some of the traits we seek out.

1. A tenant pays the rent on time every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
2. A tenant is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
3. A tenant is reasonably clean. A renter does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
4. A renter does not misuse systems.
5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to work with. A tenant understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
6. A tenant doesn't disturb neighbors.
7. A renter reports problems when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause problems for property managers.
8. A tenant doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't demand to upgrade functioning systems. A renter doesn't expect more than the lease provides. A renter doesn't complain that an appliance doesn't work when the tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
9. A tenant does not smoke in the property.
10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the owner wants to rent the property.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find tenants who measure up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that troublesome renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out difficult tenants.