When you are looking for an apartment for rent, you are mostly concerned with your own needs and requirements. You pay attention to the amenities available at the rental property, its location, and the monthly rent asked by the landlord. But what you overlook is the rental standard that most landlords look at closely before deciding at your application and that is your own credit score. Most landlords are averse to allowing applicants with a poor credit score inside their properties. However, it is not that you cannot find an apartment for rent at all with a poor credit score. Here are some tips to make your hunt for a rented apartment easy.
Search for the right properties
While it is true that most landlords insist upon tenant screening to ensure only good quality tenants in their properties, there are still some properties and landlords that accept low credit score applicants as their tenants. You need to do your homework to find out such rental properties. Some landlords do not carry out background check of their applicants as rigorously as other landlords. You can search for such landlords easily over internet. You can also take help from your friends in this regard. If your friends have found a landlord who allowed them inside their property despite their poor credit score, your work becomes that much easier. Of course, this exercise may be time consuming, but it is much better to zero in on the right properties instead of applying and getting rejected again and again.
Find a co-signer with a high credit score
If you do not have a good credit score and fear that landlords might reject your application, it is prudent to find a co-signer with a high credit score to easily rent an apartment. The co-signer could be a family member or a friend with a high credit score and he gives the guarantee of payment of rent in case you default on your monthly rent. This guarantee reassures landlords of their monthly rent and they overlook your poor credit. Take this as a chance to prove that you are a good paymaster. You can also build your credit by making timely payments of your monthly rent. If you pay the rent on time, you will have enough credit in future to apply without asking for help form a co-signer.
Talk to the landlord and explain your situation
Of course, getting a co-signer solves all your problems when looking for an apartment for rent; it is not always a desirable situation for you. It is a far better solution for you to talk to the landlord personally and reassure him about timely payment of monthly rent. You can offer to pay a few months’ rent in advance, pay a sizeable security deposit. You can also reassure the landlord by promising to pay an extra amount of money every month that can be used to pay for the rent on a month when you are not able to pay the rent. You can discuss all possible solutions with your landlord to reassure him about your sincerity and trustworthiness. Talking solves many problems and you can convince the landlord despite having a poor credit record. The trick lies in finding out anything that you can do to ease the worries of your landlord. If you can satisfy the landlord, you can get property even if you have a poor credit score.
There are many landlords that will outright reject your application upon discovering your credit score. But you will also find landlords who are willing to work with you if you can ease their worries about your low credit score.
If you’d like to talk more about property management, or you need help with Everest Property Management, please contact us at Everest Realty.
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As a top producing Realtor and Property Manager; Terry specializes in sales, extensive construction homes, rentals, REO’s, short sales, and all aspects of Real Estate. After graduating the University of Michigan with a master in MBA, Terry continued his endeavor and now has over 15+ years of experience in the Real Estate world. If there is anything that has to do with Real Estate and sales, you can always be sure of Terry to provide important, specialized knowledge.
