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

In Sleepy Hollow, our management staff prefers to deal 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 tenant is honest. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
3. A tenant is reasonably clean. 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 easy to get along with. A renter understands 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 issues for property managers.
8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant 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 tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
9. A renter does not smoke in the property.
10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the owner wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find renters who measure up to this ideal? 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.