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

In Features, our team wants to deal with good tenants. Here are some of the traits we seek out.

1. A tenant 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 has integrity. 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 tenant does not damage systems.
5. A renter is courteous and easy to get along with. A renter 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. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause head-aches for property managers.
8. A tenant 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 tenant doesn't complain that an appliance doesn't work when the renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
9. A renter does not smoke in the home.
10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor 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 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 difficult renters.