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

In Lukens_farm, our management staff wants to deal with good tenants. Here are some of the traits we seek out.

1. A tenant pays the rent when due every month. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
2. A tenant has integrity. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
3. A renter is fussy about cleanliness. A renter does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
4. A tenant does not destroy the property.
5. A renter is courteous and nice to work with. A tenant knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
6. A renter doesn't disturb neighbors.
7. A renter complains at appropriate times. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause problems for property managers.
8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't ask 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 renter does not smoke in the property.
10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the property owner wants to rent the property.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find tenants who live 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 bad tenants.