Finding good tenants for your rental home
First of all, you have to be on the Internet because that is where the tenants are. Statistically, at least 90 percent of people are looking for homes online. Generally, these are the types of tenants you want. These are people who can utilize technology, understand communication and send an email. A lot of the information you share back and forth with tenants will be done via email, so you want someone who can communicate that way.
There are several good websites that you need to be present on in order to market your property to the best tenants. We recommend hiring a property management company to help you find a tenant and if you don’t, you should at least consider working with a real estate agent. These professionals are plugged into the local real estate world. Tenants use real estate agents whenever possible, especially in our local market. We recently attended a conference held by the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM), and we discussed different marketplaces. We feel lucky in northern Virginia and Washington D.C. that it’s such a Realtor-friendly area. Realtors participate in the leasing process here, and it’s a great idea to have a property manager or a real estate agent help you locate a great tenant.
When you’re working with professionals, you can list your house on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is the number one best source to find tenants. The next best places are all the sites that pull off the MLS, such as Zillow.com, Trulia.com and Rent.com. These large websites have rental-based search engines that allow tenants to find properties like yours.
You can advertise on Craigslist, but we usually do not. We have found that we rarely get beyond a general email contact that Find the Best Tenantsdoesn’t turn into anything. It’s also hard to pre-qualify someone through Craigslist before you show your property. Also, we have set a lot of appointments with people from Craigslist who did not always show up. There are scams to be aware of and a lot of time can be wasted.
The best place to find tenants is through people associated with your local real estate market. Set up postings that work and build tenant relationships by working with a property manager or a real estate agent. You’ll end up netting more rental income because you’ll have fewer days on the market and any advanced costs will be earned back almost immediately when you have a great tenant in place that will stay for a long time.
If you have any questions, or you need help finding the best tenant for your rental property, please contact us at Peabody Residential.
