Unfortunately, Chattanooga rental property owners sometimes fall victim to bad tenants. A bad tenant might be a tenant who fails to pay rent consistently, a tenant who severely damages your rental property, or a tenant who does not follow the rules and regulations specified in the lease agreement. No landlord wants to house a tenant like that. Once these tenants are in, it is a nasty process to get them out. Oftentimes eviction is necessary and that process can take a lot of time and money. How to avoid bad tenants?
Write a Professional-Looking Rental Ad
First, make sure that you are not a target for tenants who take advantage of landlord after landlord. One of the best ways to do this is by writing a professional-looking rental ad. If you do not have the skills necessary to do that, hire someone who does! It is important that renters see from the outset that you should be taken seriously. Make sure that in your rental ads you include the applicant requirements so that not everyone is tempted to apply. This is sure to weed out some bad tenants.
Up Your Curb Appeal
Just like your rental ad, if your rental property doesn’t look like it can be taken seriously, you may fall victim to a bad tenant. Poor curb appeal on your rental property suggests that you do not properly care for it. This could be a signal to bad tenants that you will relax the rules and let them get away with murder (figuratively, we hope.) Make sure that every aspect of your rental property looks like it should be taken seriously.
Charge the Right Rent
If the rental rate you charge tenants is too low, beware. This indicates to problem tenants that you are desperate to fill the rental property and are likely to accept anyone who applies. Going along with that, make sure that you show no indication if your rental property has been vacant for an extended amount of time. This also indicates desperation and implies that you might be more relaxed with who you let rent the property.
Be Vigilant
Vigilance is extremely important when you are looking for tenants. Some problem tenants will try to pull a bait and switch; they will have someone with good credit and rental history fill out an application for them. After the application has been approved, the problem tenant will move in instead of the individual who applied. Sob stories are usually an indication of problem tenants as well. If a tenant is desperate to get into an apartment due to a death in the family, medical expenses, or whatever else, they will likely take advantage of your kindness and leave you without rental payments or with a lot of damages to repair.
Hire a Property Management Company
If you don’t think you have what it takes to pick the good tenants out of the bad ones, consider hiring a property management company. Keyrenter Chattanooga is a great option because we have a tried-and-true tenant screening process to ensure that you only rent to great tenants. We can also help with other daily management tasks to ensure that you make the most out of your rental properties. Give us a call today to find out what we can do for you.
