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

In Whitfield Green, our management staff likes to deal with reasonable tenants. Here are some of the traits we expect.

1. A renter 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 renter is honest. A tenant does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
3. A tenant is reasonably clean. A renter does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
4. A renter does not damage systems.
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 renter doesn't disturb neighbors.
7. A tenant complains when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause issues for property managers.
8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't ask to replace 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 rental.
10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor wants to rent the rental.

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