The larger the city you are in, the larger the proportion of residents are likely to be renters rather than owners. In fact, in places like New York City, renters make up 60 percent or more of the population!

When such a huge proportion of the population is a prospective tenant, it can make it difficult to do tenant screening. However, it is still extremely important to do so. In fact, tenant screening may be the single most important aspect of property management.

So how can you make your tenant screening as efficient and effective as possible? Read on to learn all about the items you should include in your tenant screening checklist!

The Importance of Screening Tenants

There is a long list of things to do when you are managing property. Many people do not appreciate which items on that list are more important than others. Tenant screening should absolutely be one of your top priorities.

In many cases, 20% of your tenants end up causing 80 percent of your workload. Sometimes, they give you many more complaints and requests. Sometimes, they also end up breaking more things and requiring you to arrange more repairs.

Every improvement to your tenant screening process can reduce the number of tenants who caused more problems for you to deal with. If you can get as many of the best tenants as possible, you will find that your total workload will diminish significantly.

Items in Your Tenant Screening Process

When you are looking to find tenants, don't be afraid to include your requirements in your listings. You don't necessarily want to maximize the number of people who respond. Instead, you want the kind of people to respond who will be good new tenants.

You want to be able to sort through tenant applications as efficiently as possible. Prepare a few questions during the initial phone call that will help you determine if somebody will be a good new tenant for your properties or not.

You should then require an application. You might even want to have two applications. If you have an extremely short application before a showing, then you may be able to save yourself a lot of time.

During the showing, set aside a little time to get to know the tenant. Ask a few questions about their history with renting and their lifestyle. It can help to ask them questions about their previous landlords.

After a showing, you will want a thorough application. You should ask for references, and you should reach out to them. You should also perform a credit report and a background check.

By following all of these steps, you should be able to find the best tenants for you. It can take a little extra time, but it will save you a lot of time down the line.

It can also help to talk to the experts about how they screen tenants in your area.

Enjoy All of the Benefits of Thorough Tenant Screening

We hope that you were able to take away something helpful from this brief post turn on some of the best practices you can apply to make the most of your tenant screening. If you can get this one thing working as well as possible, the rest of your work will get a lot easier.

To learn more about property management and how to find help to make it go as smoothly and efficiently as possible, feel free to reach out and get in touch with us here at any time!