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

In Stokes_Jeramiah, our management staff prefers to deal with dependable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

1. A renter 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 renter is honest. A tenant does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
3. A renter is neat. A renter does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
4. A renter does not break the property.
5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to get along with. A tenant understands 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. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause head-aches for property managers.
8. A renter 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 renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
9. A tenant does not smoke in the home.
10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the property.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find renters who measure up to this standard? 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 difficult tenants.