Renting out your property to new people can be somewhat unnerving. While you want them to enjoy the property, you want to be sure they’re going to take care of it like you would. Not only that, but you need to trust your new tenant will pay their rent in full and on time every month. Most landlords or property management companies choose to run a credit check on new tenants to ensure they’re dealing with a legitimate prospect for a property.
After all, this is a property you own with the intention of turning a profit, and the repercussions for choosing a tenant on sight alone can be serious. But you don’t want to alienate real tenants by charging them too much in fees before even moving in. It’s important to be honest about running a credit check, but it’s often more difficult to justify slapping a new tenant with a hefty credit check fee. Here are some tips to how best to deal with the issue of charging tenants for their own credit checks.
Be up front about your decision
The most important thing to do when choosing to charge a credit check to a new tenant is to be up front about it. If you have chosen to charge the full price of the credit check to that tenant, you need to make them aware of this before they agree to rent the property. Nobody likes nasty hidden fees, and it can be worth a few hundred dollars to keep them content when renting your property.
Offer perks and other ‘discounts’ as a sweetener
If you feel like a prospective tenant could be lost by charging them the full amount, try offering discounts on other aspects of the rent. Offer to take it as part of their deposit, and lower the deposit to a suitable alternative. A compromise could result in your property being inhabited a month earlier than if you refuse to budge on the fees, meaning you would save money in the long run.
Include it in the total First month’s rent
Many landlords choose to include fees for moving in, performing a credit check and taking a deposit as one. Compiling them all into one payment can help both tenant and landlord keep track, but giving them such a large fee, even if it is the only payment, can be off-putting to unsure tenants. It’s often better to break down the fees and explain each of them to your potential tenants.
Use Simply Residential Property Management
If you don’t like the hassle of the moving process, and aren’t sure about credit checks, deposits and moving fees, we at Simply Residential Property Management are here to make your life easier. We perform our own credit checks, criminal checks and verify income/employment to make sure we get the best of renters in your property.
Credit checks are an important aspect of the renting process. Don’t take a risk when it comes to your own property.