Virtually all people involved in managing a property for rent, understands the importance of having potential rental applicants screen for credit.
This applies to professional Philadelphia Management Companies like ours, Landlords and Real Estate Agents.
And in Philadelphia, its hard to find a tenant looking for a rental that doesn’t expect to have some form of check done on them; before being accepted for the property.
As a property manager, I want to take a moment to point out the risks involved in solely depending on a credit score. Through the years, my company has evolved to see their are several other factors and components that need to be in place, in tenant selection. Let me share them with you now:
Property Manager Tenant Selection:
- The Truth. I understand the reasons why a prospective tenant might bend the truth to not risk a property they really want to rent. But I also know I get a great many other tenants who are completely honest. And I would take the honest tenant, over the un-honest tenant.
- If for no other reason than when questions come up regarding the property, its easier to get the answers if we know we have truthful answers from the tenant.
- Something as simple as “I did this, to that, then this happened” can assist us in that fixed and getting the right thing about it fixed. If a tenant tells us they put way too much into a washer and now it doesn’t work; tell us what needs to be repaired and what doesn’t.
- Their History. Having good credit isn’t enough. As a property manager, I want to see their story right there on the criminal / credit/background check. And I want that story to be long enough so that I feel that I know who this tenant is.
- Provable.
Can I prove what I see on this report? My clients hire my company because we get them the best tenants. If I feel that I can’t validate what a potential tenant tells me, or what is on a credit report, I feel like I’m not able to do my job as a property manager. - Walk Away. I know its hard to walk away from the tenant in hand, even if you are unsure about them. But years of owning a property management company has shown me the profit in great tenants and the losses attached to poor ones.
Last, consider hiring a property manager. Our job is getting great tenants. We spend our work day driving far more applicants to a property than a property owner can hope to. We choose from a far greater pool of interested tenants. You might choose the best out of three tenants, while we choose the best out of 20.
A property manager excels at tenant selection. Not only do we do it every day; but we live with having to manage those tenants.
