As a landlord, it is your desire to have good quality tenants in your rental property. You want them to live in your property for a long time and keep paying their monthly rent on time. But how do you make sure a family would make for a perfect tenant? Of course, you have a solid tenant screening system in place, but you also need help of some rental standards to make sure your tenants can easily afford their monthly rents. Do you know some of the most common rental standards being used by landlords these days? Also, you should be aware of some of the rental standards that are not to be used by landlords as they can land you in a legal trouble. Just remember that just because someone is black, unmarried or has 3-4 kids does not mean they will not prove to be a good tenant.
Common and acceptable rental standards
Household income
Look at the gross monthly income of the family to decide whether the tenant will be able to pay the monthly rent on time or not. Having a monthly income is not enough as this income should be enough to afford the monthly rent comfortably. Tenants not just life but also eat, drink, and have fun in the outdoors. All these activities require money. You need to make sure that the tenant can fulfill all his basic requirements and also afford the rent. For example, your monthly rent should not be more than 40% of the total monthly income of the applicant. If the tenant is earning 2.5 times or more of the monthly rent, you can be reasonably sure of timely payment from him.
Look at their rental history
All tenant screening systems provide for a look at the rental history of the applicant. What do you see? Has the applicant paid their rent on time and in full? How many times as tenants have they missed the due date and paid the late fee? Have they lived for a long time at a place or been moving frequently? All these things tell you a lot about the tenant and his rent payment behavior. It is normal for a tenant to move out quickly if it is a college town, but late payments mean you can expect the same from him when he lives in your rental property.
Have they ever faced evictions?
Eviction is a serious offense on the part of a tenant though sometimes some tenants get evicted by their landlords because of no fault on their part. If eviction took place log back and they have a good rental history after that, you can allow the applicant to live in your rental property. But if that eviction took place recently, it is certainly a cause for concern for you as a landlord.
Criminal record
A criminal record in the past is a big red flag for you as a landlord. However, check if the jail term was for a violent crime or a civil dispute. You can easily say no to an applicant who has gone to jail on account of a violent crime. You must judge the severity of crime and the condition of the applicant and judge for yourself whether you want someone like them in your property or not.
How do they look and behave?
Even though appearances can be very deceptive, you can know a lot about a person after meeting him and talking to him for a while. If they are is rude and disrespectful to you, it is better to say no to them as it will be difficult for you to recover unpaid rent in future. They can also cause damage to your property.
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.
