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How to Find and Keep Quality Tenants

Steve Thompson
November 18, 2022

Knowing how to find and keep quality tenants should be a top concern of all landlords and property managers. High turnover is much more expensive than maintaining the same loyal tenants. Keeping units stable with long-term tenants allows you to focus more on your business development goals. Here are essential tips on how to find and keep quality tenants.

Be Descriptive in Your Quality Listing

The key to filling rental vacancies often involves posting an online listing on real estate sites like Zillow, social networks like Facebook, or an apartment rental website. The listing plays a major role in attracting responses from individuals seeking a rental space.

One of the most effective ways to find quality tenants is to emphasize the concepts of privacy, scenery, and proximity to landmarks. Mentioning neighborhood establishments such as schools and restaurants helps create the perception that the rental space is part of a well-envisioned community.

Emphasize Property Features and Amenities

Your listing should provide highlights of your property's best features and amenities. It's crucial to list facilities such as a swimming pool, fitness center, and clubhouse. Many rental home seekers expect to see a floor plan diagram or description in a rental listing.

If the property is near parks or other scenic points of interest, include these locations as nearby attractions. Be sure to show multiple eye-catching colorful photos of features and amenities so that prospective tenants clearly understand what they'll be getting. Displaying property images helps weed out the complainers with unrealistic expectations.

Establish Tenant Selection Criteria

Some common criteria landlords use to select the best tenants include income and background regarding evictions, felonies, and credit score. Landlords may also use references submitted by applicants to investigate how reliable the prospects have been as tenants in the past. It's wise to deny individuals with excessive criminal history because it can reflect on their reputation. You should also be wary of applicants with poor credit and massive debt.

Be Flexible with Property Scheduling

When you have a property for rent ready to show, it helps to be flexible in scheduling prospective tenants to visit and evaluate. Finding quality tenants who pay on time and don't damage property or disrupt neighbors involves keeping the window open for scheduling beyond regular office hours. You may also want to offer video tours, which may be more convenient for you and the applicants.

Find Tenants via Classified Ad Listings

Another way to find quality tenants is through a classified ad website like Craigslist. Use the platform's user-friendly tools to construct a basic post in the housing section. Consider other reputable sites that allow free or low-cost postings targeted at your market. The beauty of a popular classified ad site is that it can provide quick leads in a matter of minutes or hours.

Conclusion

Once you've developed a system for how to find and keep quality tenants, it will free your time to focus on different areas of your business beyond marketing. From there, you can direct your attention to other areas like property renovation and be responsible for protecting your deck that is shared by your community.