Finding a good renter sounds like an easy enough process — you make a list of qualifications, and compare that list to the qualifications of interested potential renters, right? Not exactly. While those steps are certainly a part of the process, there’s a lot more that goes into finding the right renter for your property than what meets the eye.
At Simply Residential Property Management, we offer free renter placement services as part of our management agreement, but we also offer placement services on their own to rental property owners who choose to self manage. Every property management company goes about finding tenants in their own way. Here’s how we do it at SRPM:
1. The first step in renting out your property is marketing — spreading the word that your awesome rental property is available. We aggressively market your property on over 170 websites, and partner with a broad network of realtors and relocation companies to further expand our reach. We do showings 7 days a week, days and evenings, whenever it’s convenient for potential renters to see your property.
2. Once we show your property, tenants begin the application process. We have a strict set of renter criteria that each potential tenant must measure up to before they’re considered for your property.
3. When potential tenants pass our criteria check and fill out a full application, we do full background checks on each person named on the lease, including criminal, credit, income verification and past tenant rental history. We leave no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring we find the best renters possible for your property. We feel so strongly about this part of the process that we guarantee our renters for the first year they’re in your property — if they don’t work out, we’ll find a new one and cover the marketing costs ourselves.
4. If an interested potential renter fits all of our criteria and passes our extensive background checks, we draft a lease agreement that protects your interests as an owner, and theirs as a renter. This lease is a binding contract that ensures that the terms of the rental agreement are honored under penalty of fines, or even eviction if the renter fails to adhere to the rules.
5. Lastly, before the renter moves in, we have a 30-step internal checklist to ensure that every aspect of our processes have been covered for your protection. In addition, we have a 72 point move-in walk-through that we adhere to with the tenant present. We thoroughly check every possible aspect of your home for existing damage prior to their move-in date, and document with photos. Once the inspection is completed, the tenant and our maintenance technician sign the document together, ensuring each party is aware of any existing damage and agrees to the assessments made in the document.
Finding a renter on your own can be tough. Working with a property management company like Simply Residential makes it easier, we take on the heavy lifting and you get the advantage of our broad network of partners, marketing resources, and full time staff working for you. If you’re looking for a renter for an existing rental property, or just have questions about the rest of our processes, contact us today!