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

In Bearings_south, our management staff likes to work with good renters. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

1. A renter pays the rent on time every month. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
2. A renter is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
3. A renter is reasonably clean. A tenant does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
4. A renter does not destroy the home.
5. A renter is courteous and nice to get along with. A tenant understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
6. A tenant doesn't annoy neighbors.
7. A renter reports problems when appropriate. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause issues for property managers.
8. A renter doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't ask to replace functioning systems. A tenant 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 property.
10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the rental.

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