In the previous blog, I wrote about one of the most important jobs any property manager can do, which is to find good tenants. This will prevent you from having a lot of headaches. In it, I wrote about 5 criteria to consider. But there’s one more important thing you need to know to get good tenants in your unit. This is going to sound really strange, but you have to stop looking for good tenants. If you look for good tenants, you will end up closing your eyes to the red flags, and you will use whatever you find "good" about that person as the reason to rent. This could potentially be a catastrophe.
I heard a lot in the past from different landlords/property managers about their horror stories. "Well, I didn't have time to screen, and she seemed to be a nice person, so I decided to rent." And of course, she doesn't pay rent, the unit is messed up, and it took months to kick her out. You really shouldn't even care about all the good things anyone says because anyone can say anything, and they will. So then what should you do?
You have to start looking for reasons NOT to rent to potential tenants. This is without saying, but I am not suggesting anything that violates the fair housing laws. You see, if you look for a reason to rent, you will find it. “He looks nice, so let’s rent to him.” “She says she likes to keep the unit clean, so let’s rent to her.” NO ONE comes to a showing and says, “I’m a dirty person. Can I rent the unit?” or “I’m late all the time with my rent payment. Can I rent the unit?” Everyone will sound like they will be awesome tenants. “I’m very clean.” “I always pay rent on time.” Be respectful with those comments, but they don’t really mean much, again since anyone can say anything.
What you really want to do is to try to find reasons not to rent because if you miss those reasons, you could have a huge headache down the road. By focusing on the potential red flags, you'll reduce the chance of putting bad tenants in your unit. If you can’t find any reason not to rent, congratulation, you just found qualified tenants!
