Once you've started your property portfolio and become a landlord, you might think the hard work is done and you can relax. Not quite! Finding the right tenants is as crucial as finding the right property, the success of your business rests on having trustworthy people who pay promptly and don't damage the house or flat.
There are two main reasons why a landlord might consider a tenant to be terrible – 1. Doesn't pay 2. Trashes the house. To avoid these, you must evolve from being a naive property investor and become more astute. Bad landlords will over-estimate the rent they are going to receive, realise the market doesn't want it at that price, panic and give it to any tenant that comes their way.
Stay calm!
You must do your due diligence on your prospective tenants. You have to ask for references from previous landlords (not their current one, but the one before that) and you have to use your instinct to assess whether they will be trustworthy. Do they have a good job? What's their credit rating like?
There are numerous more juicy tips and advice from Samuel Leeds in this video. Watch for yourself, take notes and share!
