It's interesting that with the increase in home foreclosures today, the number of apartment dwellers has increased tremendously. Obviously when people lose their home they still need a place to live, so many have found that owning an apartment building has turned into a sound investment in the past few years. But of course there are many concerns that a landlord or prospective landlord might have when it comes to their renters, and many laws that dictate who you may and may not turn away when it comes to leasing in your apartment building. What can you do and what should you look for when it comes to prospective tenants?
First keep in mind that while you cannot turn someone away because of the color of their skin, their age, or their ethnicity, this doesn't mean that you need to accept just anyone that applies to live in your apartment building. A credit check should be performed on anyone and everyone that applies, and any red flags you see or that just don't sit well with you should be a warning sign.
For instance, have they consistently moved from one apartment building to another? This isn't necessarily a bad sign as sometimes people move when their lease is up because they can't afford the ensuing rent increase, but you might double-check how long they stayed at any one apartment building. Addresses that are just a few months at a time might signal that they skip out on rent or terminate their lease early, which is not good for any prospective landlord.
Apartment renters also know that frequent moves is a red flag to apartment owners and managers so they have come up with a new trick to hide there poor rental history. Renters that skip out on rent or have been evicted will often state that they have been living with friends or family for the last couple of years. Unless the prospective renter is very young and it is obvious that this is there first apartment I will put extra time in checking out there rental history.
You can also ask for a referral from previous landlords when looking for prospective tenants for your apartment building. While there's a limit to what they can say, they can certainly tell you if the person paid their rent on time and how often they were late. They can also share if there were complaints from others in the same apartment building when it comes to noise and so on.
And of course any tenant needs to respect the apartment building they live in and other tenants. Most landlords have clauses in the lease that address noise, trash removal, common areas, and things such as this. Anyone in your apartment building that violates these terms of the lease can be evicted just as well as anyone that is late on the rent. You can also charge a security deposit in case there is damage to your apartment building when the person leaves.
With new laws being passed every day to protect deadbeat renters many landlords are very hesitant to give any information out about pasted renters other than the renter did live at the address stated on the rental application. For this reason you will need to develop a good relationship with all of the other apartment managers in your area. You do not want to break any laws when giving or getting information but you do want to get all of the information you are entitled to.
There are more and more websites being devoted to landlords sharing information about prospective tenants to their apartment building; those with problems with past tenants may post information and even pictures of damages. Of course there may be some legal concerns with what you post and say on these sites, but if you own an apartment building there's nothing to stop you from checking them for information!
David Cowley has created numerous articles on real estate investing. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to real estate investing. Visit http://www.rgvre-team.com |
