These are the things a landlord looks at before renting to a tenant. How do you satisfy these 10 Concerns!
1. Be Respectful of The Landlords Time
If you’ve set up a tour of the unit, you should be early or at least on time to the appointment. Arriving late and having an excuse for doing so shows that you don’t respect the landlords’ time. Call if you’re not going to show up or cancel. Starting your landlord-tenant relationship on the right foot is important, and being late to appointments is not the way to do it.
2. Know Your Credit & Criminal History
The first and arguably most important, thing done is to screen you. This includes looking at your credit score as well as your criminal and eviction history. A clean criminal or eviction history might be an indicator that you will be a good renter, and the same goes for your financial information. If your credit is less than stellar and you have an explanation as to why you’re a good risk now put it in writing so the landlord and owners can make an informed decision. We often rent to someone with bankruptcies or medical bills etc when the full story comes out. It would be helpful in such cases to offer to pay an additional security deposit or up-front rent too (in certain states this may not be allowed check with your local expert.)
Many property managers also look for a rent to income at of 3.5 to 1 plus an additional $600 per additional occupant more than 2 people.
3. Be Polite During the Interview/Showing
Having a face-to-face, sit down “interview” with a potential landlord is a good use of time to gauge that person’s personality traits. Do they answer your questions in a polite way? Are they argumentative when asked a question they don’t like? Do they get quarrelsome or defensive during the interview? Take note of any personality traits that they display during the interview; remember that you will have an ongoing relationship with this person, and if your personalities clash, it might not be a good fit.
4. Provide Documents in a Timely Fashion
Get the application fully filled out, background check paid for, and references sent to the landlord within a day or two. The faster you get your documents to the landlord, the better. It shows that you are serious about signing the lease and don’t want to waste time. It is helpful to provide a credit report and pay stubs and/or job offer letter at the time of application. Even if the landlord does not request these, providing them can help. There are free options online available where you can get your credit score and report.
5. Have a Stable Job
When looking at a potential tenant, job history is one thing closely looked at. If you’ve been at their current employer for a few years or held a few different roles within the same company, that’s a good sign. Having a consistent job signifies that they have a steady income and are financially stable, two things that make a great tenant. If you have moved frequently write a letter as to why this happened.
6. Respond Promptly
People who return your phone calls and emails promptly usually make good tenants. If you have to wait a few days or weeks for them to respond to even a non-urgent matter, they probably don’t value this living situation as much as you’d like. Having a renter who is responsive and willing to work with you efficiently is a great sign.
7. Doesn’t Make Financial Excuses
If you have something a bit off in your credit check, you might want to explain it in the face-to-face interview. If you can answers the tough questions in a straightforward, upfront way, it may set their minds at ease. See point #2 also.
8. Good References
Your previous landlords and personal references are important when deciding whether or not you’ll be a good tenant. Past landlords have nothing to lose by speaking about their old tenants, and if a landlord speaks highly or positively of them, that person is probably going to be a good renter.
9. Long-Term Plans to Live in Unit
Sure, a year-long lease is a great start, but landlords would love for a tenant to rent the unit for as long as possible. If you can express long-term plans do so. The more committed you seem to living there for multiple years, the more likely you are to be accepted.
10. They Ask You Questions, Too
Making sure you’ve asked all the right questions and covered all your bases is crucial to the rental process, but don’t forget that your prospective landlord should want to know about you, too. A good landlord will want to know more a variety of other things. The more they want to know about you, the more comfortable they are in renting to you.
