Each day your rental property in Vienna, VA, sits empty is a day of lost profits.
However, that's not enough reason to rush or be lax with your tenant placement process.
If you're not careful, you may rent out to the wrong people, leaving you with no choice but to evict them. Worse, they could put your property, neighbors, or community at risk. The law may also hold you liable for your tenants' crimes or illegal activities.
All that should be enough reason to follow proper tenant placement practices.
This guide shares tips to help you fill your properties with qualified, responsible tenants, so read on.
1. Welcome Pets
A survey of renters found that almost 90% own a pet. And of those who don't, over half said they plan to get one. However, many also said finding properties that welcome pets is challenging.
Therefore, you can expand your tenant pool by welcoming pets to your Vienna, Virginia, real estate properties. You'll have more applicants to select from, many of whom will likely want to move in ASAP. As a result, you can have your properties filled quickly.
Moreover, pet parents are generally responsible and careful of their living environments. After all, they know how difficult it is to find pet-friendly rentals. So, once they find one, they'll likely do their best to abide by the lease.
2. Perform Thorough Background Checks
Effective tenant placement in Vienna, VA, requires thorough screening and background checks. These include checking each tenant's:
- Employment history
- Credit score and history
- Rental and eviction history
- Criminal background
Such processes can help you assess each applicant's trustworthiness. At the same time, they can help you identify those who are most likely to pay their rent late or breach their lease. Most importantly, they can help you choose respectable tenants who won't endanger your property, neighbors, and community.
3. Partner With Tenant Placement Experts
As critical as screening and background checks are to finding tenants, they're time-consuming. They're also complex and surrounded by laws. An example is the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits all discriminatory housing-related practices.
Landlords found guilty of committing such acts can find themselves facing lawsuits.
Since you don't want that to happen, consider delegating the task of tenant placement to professionals. And if you hire a full-service property management company, you can also expect them to help with:
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Rent collection
- Lease creation and enforcement
- Property inspections and maintenance
- Tenant communication and assistance
A reputable property management company in Vienna, VA, also guarantees its services. For example, they'll provide you with eviction protection against tenants they placed. They'll handle the eviction process on your behalf and pay up to $2,000 of the associated costs.
Follow These Tenant Placement Strategies
While your tenants are your source of income, they can also be your source of stress. That's why you should always aim to fill your properties in Vienna, VA, with qualified renters from the very start.
You can rely on us at PMI Smart Choice for quality tenant placement services. We're a locally owned and operated company providing full-service property management. However, we're also proud members of a national franchise with over two decades of industry experience.
So, contact us today! Our property management experts are ready to answer all your questions.
