How to find tenants

How to find tenants

Finding quality tenants for your rental property can be a daunting task. While 'bad' tenants are thankfully reasonably rare, they are extremely difficult to get rid of should you be so unfortunate to select them for your property.

Every day, landlords all over Auckland are dealing with tenants who don't pay their rent on time, damage their property, or simply disappear without a trace. 

City Sales Property Managers can help you find the perfect prospective tenant for your rental property. We have a large pool of quality prospective renters and we conduct extensive background checks and tenant screening reports for the property owners before approving anyone. This post is going to teach you our methods to finding great and reliable tenants to rent your property.

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It's important to screen potential tenants in a thorough and consistent manner, in order to weed out those who may not be a good fit for your property or who may cause problems down the road. By doing your homework and asking the right questions, you can increase your chances of finding good tenants for your vacant rental property.

Matching the right tenant to the right property

Putting the right tenant into the right property means they will stay longer. While a lot of property owners will want a single working professional in their rental property, it is unreasonable to wait around for applications from one in a four bedroom house in the suburbs, and should you get that application, you need to ask what they are going to do with the other 3 bedrooms. Are they planning to sublease, do they have children come to stay?
So be realistic about what tenant your property suits.

5 Things good tenants want from rental properties

No one wants to have to do a lot of cleaning or repairs before they've even moved in. Set the tone right from the start and you'll attract high quality, reliable tenants who will most likely keep the property in that condition.

• Clean and tidy.
  A well presented property.

• Well maintained.

• Everything in the property down to lightbulbs, should be in good working condition throughout viewings and certainly before your new tenant moves in.

• Heating or Cooling.

• Close to amenities. Location is important to all tenants - but what amenities depends on your properties 'perfect tenant'. A family will want schools or community centres to be nearby. Students might be interested in public transport hubs or nightlife. Professionals want proximity to grocery stores, restaurants.

• Dishwasher. No one wants to be washing dishes by hand these days. There are dishdrawers available however our advice is wherever possible to install a full dishwasher. Dishdrawers are expensive to purchase and maintain and tend to have more problems that normal dishwashers.

Preparing the property

Preparing your property for good tenants is an essential part of the rental process. If your property is not in good condition, it can be a major turnoff for prospective tenants and may even result in them choosing another property to rent.

If your property is in poor condition before they've even moved in that tells them its ok to keep and return the property in that same condition at the end of the tenancy. It is very rare for tenants to leave a property in better condition than they move in. Tenants aren't going to spend their money improving the value of your investment property, but they will maintain an already nice property so they have a nice living space.

Price it to attract good tenants

Most rentals property owners want to test the waters when they put a rental listing online by putting the rent a little higher than it was, and probably a little higher than it should be. This is a mistake for a few reasons -

Firstly, the interest you will get for your online advertising is highest when it first goes on and in such a competitive city as Auckland, drops sharply from there in a matter of days.
By the time you realise you're either getting no interest, or interest from undesirable parties you have lost the bulk of the interest you will get at all.

Pricing too high you can attract desperate tenants who know the property is priced too high so will have little interest. The risk is they end up not paying.

There are also some undesirable tenants who specifically look for properties that are managed by investors, not professional property managers hoping your screening process will not be as stringent as professional property manager systems.

Present it well: Photos

Professional photos start under $200 for apartments and are worth so much more. The difference is staggering and when in strong competition, like the Auckland market - it is well worth it to have your property look better value than the one next door.

In our example below - each property is advertised for $480 a week. Which is going to get more interest, more viewings, more applications for rental property owners to choose from?

Casually investigate

Recent changes to privacy act means you can't ask for much in the tenancy application process, nor can you ask past landlords in references much either. The best place now to learn a bit about your prospective tenants is at the viewing.

Don't get too into deep into their rental history but if you can casually find out what they currently pay, why they are moving and generally get a feel for the type of people they are.

Is that someone you can have a good working relationship with?

Applications

Have your application form ready to go.
A good tenant will be expecting this, and will be keen to fill it out, happy to have any routine checks such as credit check or credit report ordered which will give you a credit score or the likelihood of them paying back debts, a criminal background check and referee calls made to past landlords.

In your reference call you want to ask about what condition the tenants kept the property in, is their communication good, did the previous landlord have any issues collecting rent, did they need to issue any notices.

Some tenants with short or no rental history might provide a co worker or manager as a referee in which case gather information as possible including credit checks but you will be running largely off of having met them in person.

Secure your great tenants

Once all checks have been completed and approved its time to make informed decisions about your tenant's application and secure your tenant with a rental agreement.

Set expectations upfront

A clear rental agreement should let the tenant know what is expected of them and how they keep and return the property when they leave. It should clearly explain who is responsible for what throughout the tenancy, don't assume they will be on the same page as you - put it in writing so you all can be clear as to who is going to do what, and what to do should a situation arise.

If this all sounds like too much we can help. At City Sales we have been managing properties throughout Auckland for over 20 years. We have the experience, the systems and the know how to find you great, reliable tenants who will provide you with reliable income, look after your property and return it in good condition.

Call our Property Management team today on 09 3030 601.