How much
is your property worth in terms of resale value, rental income and
your financial future?
Don't take a gamble when you're looking for new tenants, why
give your keys to a virtual stranger and just hope for the
best?
Tenant referencing and credit checks should play a critical role
in your choice of prospective tenants and if you fail to carry out
these simple checks, you could soon find you'll have to deal with
one of the following five headaches.
Tenants who cut and run
If you don't check for references with previous landlords, you
may never find out that your new tenants have a habit of doing a
runner a few months into a six month agreement.
When tenants leave without notice it can cause you as the
landlord a number of problems and untold inconvenience.
A reduction in your income
Having tenants in your property who don't pay up on time can
hurt your bank balance too. They may be able to pay a deposit and
first month's rent but that might be all you ever get from
them.
Running a credit check will at least give you an indication of
how responsible your tenants are when it comes to their finances
and could save you a significant sum.
Expensive damage to your property
Checking on tenants with their previous landlords makes sense
both in terms of finances and their general behaviour. You might
get a tenant that pays up every month when they're supposed to but
is slowly but surely trashing your property as they go.
A drain on your time
Getting an employer reference is also worthwhile. Someone who
has been in a job for a short space of time or who is employed
part-time rather than full-time as they told you could result in
you having to look for another new tenant sooner rather than
later.
Having to find tenants every few months for your rental property
can be a very time consuming process and if you're a letting
agency, doing all these checks manually can be an unnecessary drain
on your resources.
Some of your possessions going missing
Whether you're a letting agent or private landlord, nobody wants
to see items in rental properties going missing. Identifying who's
responsible can be hard, not to mention having the added hassle of
making an insurance claim or replacing the item yourself if you're
the landlord and don't want to pay your excess.
Running credit, employer and previous landlord checks
online can save you time and provide you with more peace of mind
when renting out your property. Buy one get one FREE on credit
checks with Lettingref.
