As a landlord, it can be tough to find good renters for your property. Finding renters is even more difficult if you own rental property in a rural area or a smaller town. If you want to take the hassle out of finding quality renters for your rental property, here are some tips to help you out.
List Your Property Online
One of the easiest ways to spread the word about your rental property and attract renters is to post your property online. There are tons of websites that allow you to list a rental property online for a small fee. You can even pay extra to make your listing a sponsored listing, which puts it at the top of the list for every renter to see. If you’re not using online property listing tools, you’re definitely behind the competition.
Consider Craigslist
You might not find the best renters every time, but Craigslist is a great place to post your rental property if you want to attract renters. One thing to keep in mind is that renters on Craigslist tend to look at properties on Craigslist because they don’t want to go through a property management company. If you’re renting on Craigslist, it’s best to meet tenants in person before you rent the property.
Hire a Property Manager
If you want to take some of the hassle out of finding renters for your property, try hiring a property manager. Property managers take care of all the difficult parts of renting out a property, from finding renters to vetting them and taking care of property maintenance. If you’re renting out a property in a state where you don’t currently live, hiring a property management company is the best way to go.
Vet New Renters
At the end of the day, finding good renters is important if you want to take care of your rental property. Luckily, you can run an eviction background check on potential renters to figure out whether or not they’ve been evicted in the past. Prior evictions are a sign that a renter has a poor rent payment history or has otherwise caused trouble with past rental properties, so it’s best to avoid those renters.
Host an Open House
Another way you can attract renters to your rental property is to host an open house. During an open house, you can show prospective renters around the house and highlight features they may be looking for in a rental. If you’re renting a property out of state, you can always have a property manager host an open house for you.
Ask Pre-Screening Questions
Asking the right questions is important if you want to find the best tenants, so make sure you’re asking the right pre-screening questions. You can talk with a property management company or other landlords to figure out what they’re asking renters before their move-in date. Asking renters about their past rental history and what they’re looking for in a rental can make your job easier as a landlord.
Make Applying Easy
If you make it difficult to apply for your rental property, not as many people are going to apply. The easier you make your applications, the more applications you’ll get and the more candidates you’ll have to weed through. While there are certain things you need to include on a rental application, try to make things as simple as possible. Offering an online application also makes it easier for people to apply.
Just because you’ve got a rental property doesn’t mean you’re making any money off of it. First, you have to find somebody to rent to. If you’re having trouble finding renters, try some of these tips to simplify the process.