Getting a tenant for your property can be easy depending on your property’s features, but aside from that, it’s also quite reliant on what kind of person your prospective tenant is like. Vetting candidates is extremely important for any landlord or property; you want to be sure to find a tenant who will treat your property like their own.
In Singapore, property management is never quite complete without a tenant screening or two to make sure that everything is in order before the unit is handed off. Not only is this legally required and binding from the two parties, but it’s also just good practice to be sure of who exactly is about to occupy your property.
So if you want to vet your prospective tenants properly, here are two things that you should follow.
Background and history checks
Think of handing over the property like a job application: it’s essential to know who exactly you’re handing it to. Proper background checks like credit, good behaviour, and other sorts of paperwork are a necessity when it comes to handing over the property, as it makes sure that the person you’re leasing to is in good standing with both public and private entities.
Why do this? Aside from being a good state to start with your tenant, it also protects yourself and your property for litigation if needed. Background checks can often reveal something nefarious about your tenant that isn’t obvious and these are things that you should know as a property manager
Grading your tenant
If your prospective tenant has cleared the background check, then you need to grade them according to pre-existing standards that you hold the other tenants to. While it’s easy to think that one person can’t cause that much of an effect on their neighbours, the truth is very much the opposite. Now that you’ve judged them via their credentials, you should then proceed to judge them by character.
This is often a very tricky step since it’s difficult to immediately pinpoint any warning flags that any prospective tenant right off the bat. Skilled property managers will often deliberately slow negotiations if they feel like they need to get more of a feel of the person applying, which can indicate issues that aren’t easily unearthed on paper.
Regardless, screening tenants will often need a mixture of thoroughness and a critical eye on the person applying. You need to remember that while they may be providing you with the revenue that you seek with their rent money, your investment is not only them but the property itself. It’s simply good business and best practice for you to look out for yourself and what you have.
Screening tenants isn’t that hard of a process if you end up being thorough about your methods. While it may be a little difficult to initially get started (mainly due to all the paperwork required and so on,) once you get the ball rolling, it can be quite easy to make a process that can smoothly and securely vet tenant applications.