Every landlord wants the perfect tenant, but not everyone gets them. Regardless of how clean a tenant’s credit check and references are, they can still turn out to be anything from a slight nuisance to a financially-draining nightmare. So, what do you need to look for in order to be as sure as you can that you’re letting to someone who’s going to pay their rent in full, on time and take care of your property?
Good communication
One of the most important factors in a successful tenancy is having a good line of communication between you or your managing agent and your tenant. If a prospective tenant turns up to appointments on time or makes contact to explain why they might need to reschedule, then responds to any calls or emails from you quickly and with the required information, that suggests they’ll continue to communicate well.
Having all documentation to hand
Good tenants, who will have no problem affording the rent and have rented successfully in the past will be happy to provide all the documentation you need. If they’ve rented before and know the process, they should hopefully have bank statements, ID and referee details to hand; if they’re less used to renting, they should still respond to a request for the information without hesitation.
