Need help finding the right tenants but don't know what to look for
Hi guys, Looking for tenants for two apartments has been an eye-opening experience and I now realize that we do not know what to look for either good or bad. I suppose we should know what to avoid, more than anything. How do we steer clear of deadbeats that are familiar with working the system….
Hi guys,
Looking for tenants for two apartments has been an eye-opening experience and I now realize that we do not know what to look for either good or bad.
I suppose we should know what to avoid, more than anything. How do we steer clear of deadbeats that are familiar with working the system. Not concerned with which reports to run (credit, etc) rather what red flags.
Also, what would you guys advise to look FOR in tenants?
Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately, Brokelin has more time than we need her to have.
I just rented out 2 apts in my owner-occupied building in Park Slope. I didn’t use a broker, I only listed the apts in the NY Times, craigslist, and RDNY. We got plenty of nibbles very quickly and quite a few pretty good quality applicants. Both were leased out in only two weeks to tenants I feel pretty good about. Now I just have to hope it doesn’t turn out be a disaster.
I think we got a fair amount of interest quickly because I intentionally priced it a bit below what seemed to be the comps. The comps on the NY Times (which were all broker listings) were especially high. Getting a lot of good applicants in quickly gave us greater choice in picking a person to share the building with (as opposed to just collecting a check from an investment property). I got a lot of leads from the NY Times, so I think the $100 for 2 weeks is worth it (if you’re pricing the unit to possibly move in 2 weeks).
I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of applicant from craigslist. I was quite concerned after reading the posts in this Forum.
I would recommend screening for income (and whatever else) by email when you get a nibble. If people want to apply, ask some more questions before taking an application. No need to waster your time or their credit check fee.
Having done it myself, there is no way I would pay 1 months rent to a broker to perform this service. If I owned 10+ units, it may be a different story, but 1-2 units is very manageable on your own. I also suspect that brokers suggest inflated rent bc it doesn’t cost them anything to ask too much. But months of delay can cost the landlord a lot.
I just rented out 2 apts in my owner-occupied building in Park Slope. I didn’t use a broker, I only listed the apts in the NY Times, craigslist, and RDNY. We got plenty of nibbles very quickly and quite a few pretty good quality applicants. Both were leased out in only two weeks to tenants I feel pretty good about. Now I just have to hope it doesn’t turn out be a disaster.
I think we got a fair amount of interest quickly because I intentionally priced it a bit below what seemed to be the comps. The comps on the NY Times (which were all broker listings) were especially high. Getting a lot of good applicants in quickly gave us greater choice in picking a person to share the building with (as opposed to just collecting a check from an investment property). I got a lot of leads from the NY Times, so I think the $100 for 2 weeks is worth it (if you’re pricing the unit to possibly move in 2 weeks).
I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of applicant from craigslist. I was quite concerned after reading the posts in this Forum.
I would recommend screening for income (and whatever else) by email when you get a nibble. If people want to apply, ask some more questions before taking an application. No need to waster your time or their credit check fee.
Having done it myself, there is no way I would pay 1 months rent to a broker to perform this service. If I owned 10+ units, it may be a different story, but 1-2 units is very manageable on your own. I also suspect that brokers suggest inflated rent bc it doesn’t cost them anything to ask too much. But months of delay can cost the landlord a lot.
Not everyone thinks the same way I do, but I do not want to even meet the potential tenant until they have been vetted by somebody ELSE. I use a broker, they get the paperwork, if the tenant looks like he/she is stable, all the checks have been done and they seem like they would be good for the place, then I will meet at a coffee shop to talk with the potential tenant and the broker. There I try to get a sense of whether the person would be happy in the house and would fit (I live there, and have one other tenant) and then after that meeting, I will decide. If yes, we sign the lease and do a walk through.
I have great tenants and I guess I can say that I don’t do this much because the tenants I have are very happy and have been here from the beginning. Well, actually I inherited one tenant who was a nightmare, learned about NYS tenant/landlord court, got rid of her and decided that I was never going to go through that again. So far so good.
and post, and post.
Just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful reponses. Brokelin – thanks for taking the time to post.
And, to disagree with what is above, you’ll have less trouble keeping renters if you rent the same whether you live there or not. Because your other tenants have to live with the other tenants. Yes, YOU may not be kept up by another tenant’s noise late at night if you don’t live there, but if your other tenants have to because you don’t take as much care to screen tenants as you would if you also lived there, you will have more turnover. And you are giving your tenants the (correct) impression that you don’t give a damn about the habitability of their apartment.
Also, going through a broker will also eliminate a lot of financially responsible people. Unless you price your place lower such that when the broker’s fee is divided into 12 months and added to each month’s rent, it would come out the same as a comparable apartment. You might lose some anyway, as brokers usually cost the tenant, and are a pain sometimes to deal with, so many might pass it up anyway. You could pay the broker’s fee yourself – and have them advertise it as a no fee apartment. (It all comes out in the wash – it is part of the rent, however you look at it, whoever pays it. Kind of like the employer portion of social security taxes – it is still part of the employee’s salary cost.)
I paid broker’s fees a few times, but not in decades, and I wouldn’t do so again. A waste of funds. With the internet, there is no reason to pay one – you can easily find apartments posted directly by landlord, or through word of mouth. I’ve gotten my best apartments, too, by word of mouth or no fee directly through landlords. That’s how the good ones get rented. Brokers often have a lot of crap to show you.
Keep up the word of mouth. Advertise in local areas where there will be professionals – like if you live near a university, a hospital, etc. Put up a note in a bookstore if there’s one nearby, or a fancy coffeeshop if there’s one nearby with a bulletin board. Ask friends who work in Manhattan whose companies have either an informal newsletter, a bulletin board, or just a culture where opportunities like a place to rent can get emailed out to other workers. (Skip churches – they help people in financial trouble.) You’re advertising to a subset of the general populace when you do this, one likely to be more financially able to pay.
…security back after I had moved out, but they never did, because they knew I was a good tenant, and that there would be no problem with the apartment other than the usual, minor wear-and-tear scuffs of living. I always left the apartment extremely clean, too – I’d even wash floors after the movers were gone. (Would I do this if I knew the landlord had a history of keeping all or part of the security for bogus reasons? Don’t know, haven’t been in that situation. Remember, tenants talk to each other too, so they get to know how trustworthy you are.) I appreciated the landlords not being a pain about the security, and wanted to make my leaving as easy for them as they made it for me. That’s how responsible people conduct business transactions.
That’s how you get good tenants. Find trustworthy people, and treat them as if they were trustworthy. It really isn’t hard. If you don’t know how to do that, it makes me wonder if (1) you’ve never been a tenant, or (2) if you weren’t the best tenant.
Credit scores matter – not for the score itself, but for the reason for the score. If there are many late payments, it can represent a pattern. I’d stay away from people with more than a couple of late payments if I were a landlord. Personal references are stupid, as I learned when calling them all for people moving into our coop – just about everybody can get someone to give a personal (or professional) reference. Doesn’t mean they won’t be a total pain in the ass, or pay their monthly check late.
An employer letter sounds like a good idea, but no landlord has ever asked me for one. You can find out as much, if you want to know, by asking the tenant to show you x months of paycheck stubs, or a current one along with last year’s W-2. Why make the tenant bother their employer for a letter if they can give you the information in another format that is easier for them? Or give them the choice of how to show sustained income. You can always take copies of 1040s, but know they can be easily faked.
I wouldn’t bother asking former landlords. Yes, sometimes they want the tenant to move out. Or they won’t call you back – they have no incentive to. I’d focus on my own gut instincts to the answers to questions when we meet, the credit report, and the job/income.
Also, make sure your ad sound like you are responsible, trustworthy, and respectful when you write it. Some landlords sound so much of a pain in what they write, tenants who want reasonable landlords pass those ads by. A bad attitude towards tenants can come out in what you say, even if you aren’t aware of it.