As a property owner, protecting and receiving a return on your investment is one of your top priorities. You want to make sure you’ll get rental payments on time, that tenants will take care of the property, and that you avoid potential conflicts. The best way to do this is to screen all tenants before signing any contracts and accepting renters for any period of time. You may think it easy to do on your own, but it’s easier to check everything if you work through a property management company.
Why use a property management company? Professionals are better able to get access to information about the prospective renters, both quickly and inexpensively, in comparison to you doing it alone. The company representatives will be able to run background checks, look into credit history, find information from renters’ previous landlords and any problems that might have occurred, and give you a detailed, accurate report to help you decide on a candidate.
While these things can be done without a company’s help, the chances of running into problems later on will increase. Sadly, some people are experts at scamming landlords and are good at keeping certain pieces of information hidden. You may be inclined to be lenient if a prospective tenant can’t provide previous information or references from a landlord, or if they currently don’t have a bank account. A company could help you see these as red flags and advise you from a business standpoint.
You may also have a harder time getting a background check or a credit history, and so let it go because of the hassle. All of these things could lead to serious problems – not all of the time, but the chance of it happening is worth getting some assistance from a company. Rental company employees do this as a regular part of their job and have better access than you do as a landlord. Getting that help and advice now will help you avoid selecting a problem tenant and decrease the risks of personal and legal conflict.
If you don’t already work with a rental property manager, go online and look for some companies that can provide tenant screening assistance. For starters, try Rhino Management. We offer tenant screening and do background checks, along with helping you manage repairs and maintenance, rent collection, and more. Do yourself a favor and avoid the pitfalls that can come after selecting tenants without enough information on their history. Get in touch with a rental property manager today.
Get Help with Tenant Screening