They will either ruin your house or parts of it, make lots of noise and leave you with plenty of complaints from the neighbours, fail to pay the rent on time or just generally cause lots of problems for you and your property. Following a few simple steps might not guarantee that you’ll get perfect tenants, but it’ll make it a lot easier to avoid the bad ones and keep your worries at bay.
1. Check out their financial history and status
Don’t feel like you’re being nosy asking to see the financial history of your potential tenants. This is something which is very common and tenants should not be surprised at the prospect of having to present bank statements and other paperwork to prove that they are earning an income. You need to know that your tenants are going to be able to pay the rent to you each month, since it’s very likely that you have either a mortgage to pay on the house or other expenses. If your tenants don’t pay, it could mean that you end up in financial difficulty, and a rental property is supposed to earn you some extra cash and help you out financially.
2. Don’t cut corners
If you’re trying to rent out London property or homes anywhere else in the UK, you should make sure that you do everything properly and don’t cut any corners. You need to pay a solicitor to properly draw up a tenancy agreement that both you and the new tenant will sign. You will normally play a part in what goes in the agreement, but when it has been written, you should make sure that you look over it and read it all the way through. If there are things you’re not happy with, you can ask the solicitor or estate agent to change it before it gets passed on to the tenant.
3. Check ID and other documents
Even though people might seem nice and friendly when you meet them, it’s important to remember that there are plenty of criminals out there and people who steal identity or try to illegally get into a property as a tenant. Obviously you shouldn’t be asking for ID when people come to view your property, but if they are serious about moving in and want to sign the agreements, you should check some form of ID before letting them sign the paperwork and make everything official. If you’re renting out your property through an estate agent, they will usually do all this for you and take photocopies of ID for future reference.