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So it's finally time to fill a vacancy in your investment property. How are you going to get new high-quality tenants?
If you're not screening your tenants, you're putting yourself at risk. Tenant screening is crucial for anyone who's interested in Vancouver, WA real estate investing.
Not sure if it's worth the effort? Let's talk about it. Read on to learn all about the importance of screening your potential tenants.
Protecting Your Property
You want to get the best possible tenants for your property, right? You want them to treat your property as if it were their own. While you can't ensure that that will be the case through tenant screening alone, it's a great place to start.
When you screen your tenants, you'll look for things like pets and rental history. You'll also learn about your potential tenant's income (or their bank information if they don't receive income). These things matter when it comes to protecting your investment.
By learning these things about your tenant, you'll get a good idea as to whether or not they'll be willing to keep your rental home in good condition. If they have a clean rental history, decent income (or a good cosigner), and a positive reference, they're a safe bet!
Protecting Other Tenants
You also need to protect other tenants who live on your property if you rent a multi-family home.
Your tenants rely on you to keep them safe. While you're not responsible for the actions of your tenants, if you make a serious error in judgment when you bring in a new tenant, you might be putting the rest of them at risk.
You do need to be careful when you're looking at whether or not a potential tenant has a history of criminal activity. There are laws that protect people with criminal records under some circumstances.
That said, you are allowed to use your best judgment to determine whether or not someone would be a safe addition to your property.
Preventing Future Evictions
No landlord wants to deal with an eviction. Evictions are complicated legal processes that are messy, time-consuming, and often expensive for all parties involved.
By screening your tenants ahead of time, you'll lower your chances of having to deal with an eviction in the future. You can see their history of rent collection, their credit, and more.
You can even get a good idea of whether or not your tenant will feel the need to break their lease.
Tenant Screening Is Important
You should never underestimate the importance of tenant screening. If you want to keep your property and tenants safe and prevent future evictions, screening your potential tenants before you accept them is the obvious solution.
Do you need help with leasing, maintenance, or property accounting for your Vancouver, WA property? Our Vancouver, WA property management team wants to help.
Contact us so we can start working together today.
