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

In Sequoyah, our team prefers to deal with good tenants. Here are a few of the traits we look for.

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

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