Landlords - how do you scan your tenants to prevent bad ones?

machofairy

About to be a first time landlord and am interested about how others scan their prospective tenants. On our street, almost every house that has had tenants had a bad one at one time or another. Its just putting us off a bit.

pickles110564

Even if they come with glowing ref's it don't mean they are any good.
You just have to accept that you will get a higher % of bad tenant's than good ones and factor this into your rent chargers and how much deposit you take

sortofok

References can be useful indicators but this is my golden rule :

If they are due to meet you at the property at, say, 2pm, and they have not arrived by 1 minute past or not phoned to say they are late -forget them.

You may scoff, but trust me, punctuality is everything in this case. I don't care about traffic jams, childcare problems, whatever. A casual approach to your appointment means they wil probably display the same careless attitudes towards paying the rent on time.

All it takes is a phone call.

jodenice

I think thats a bit unfair! In somewhere like London, where I lived, tubes broke down regualarly. Its frustrating enough being stuck in a tunnel without a signal let alone knowing you're going to miss your dream home! :rolleyes:

pickles110564

sortofok wrote: »

References can be useful indicators but this is my golden rule :



You may scoff, but trust me, punctuality is everything in this case. I don't care about traffic jams, childcare problems, whatever. A casual approach to your appointment means they wil probably display the same careless attitudes towards paying the rent on time.

All it takes is a phone call.

So true we have one couple that were like this late for the appointment and I have to chase them for their rent every month, get it in drips and drabs, hear all the different stories why that they have not paid.
Each time they promise next month they will pay on time, but If I end their agreement we will have all the hastle of getting new ones in that will probably be as bad

sortofok

Tough Jodenice. Leave earlier and give yourself more time.

becky_rtw

I hate to say it but I agree with sortofok - I'm a tenant and the few times that letting agents have been late for appointments has put me right off living there - late for appointment, late to fix stuff.

sooz

i agree about the punctuality!!

as well as the refs, don't forget to run a credit check on all the adult tenants. you need their written permission to do this, but have a look at some tenant credit check companies and from them you can print a great application form for prospective tenants.

they need to fill in their full name, address, passport number, number, bank address, car registration, next of kin etc.

I keep lots of copies of this handy when showing properties, and find the people who don't want to fill this in, are not the kind of tenants i want to have in my properties!

GTG

"have a look at some tenant credit check companies and from them you can print a great application form for prospective tenants."

sooz, do you have a link/links please?

Thanks.

sooz

This is the one I use for credit checking

http://www.tenantverify.co.uk/

but I use the tenant particulars form from the NLA, as it is only 1 page rather than 5.

david29dpo

no one covered with tattoos, even worse if spelled wrongly. rings on every finger is a no-no, blinged up with gold chains and a pitbull? run a mile. i AM being serious!