One of the major benefits of hiring a property manager to manage your investment property is their ability to locate a suitable tenant for you and the variety of resources they have to ensure a great match for you.
So, what is involved in locating the ideal tenants for each rental property? Let’s take a look at some of the tasks that property managers complete when taking care of this service for you.
Prospective tenant database
When a property manager is aware a property will require tenants (whether a current tenancy is ending or a client has a new property for them to rent out) they will have a database of prospective tenants from previous comparison properties listed for rent, the current enquiry being received, current quality tenants looking to move, etc. Proactive property managers will often contact their database to see if there is an opportunity to rent the property prior to advertising. This can result in leasing the property ‘off market’ and saving the landlord costs associated with advertising the property.
Advertising
Advertising is an obvious one. Quality photographs should be taken and a description detailing all of the properties features. Virtual tours are an incredible addition to advertised properties giving the option to prospective tenants to apply having viewed virtually. The more websites the property is advertised on increases the reach and overall number of prospective tenants the property gets in front of. A sign out the front of the property increases awareness for locals or drivers by looking for rentals also increasing the overall number of prospective tenants. The property manager collates all of this for their clients and good ones will update landlords regularly with how the campaign is coming along.
Leasing inspections
Property managers have access to all kinds of data and technology that can assist with ensuring the leasing inspections are set at times to ensure a maximum number of prospective tenants register to inspect and walk through the door. For example, if the property is appealing to families they may schedule inspections right before or after school pick up of an afternoon or in the middle of the day to capture working professionals in their lunch breaks. A professional property manager knows the area and the market, and will always schedule inspections to maximise walk-throughs.
When conducting leasing inspections, the property manager will ensure the attendees see all the features of the property and engage in conversation with as many prospective tenants as possible to get a feel for the type of people who are applying or interested in applying to rent the property.
Application processing
When determining if an applicant is suitable to rent a property a number of things are cross-checked by a property manager, generally starting with verifying the identification supplied by the applicants. The property manager will also contact an applicant’s employer, current and previous real estate agents and other relevant parties for references. Once employment and income have been confirmed, calculations will be made to determine that the applicants can afford to rent the property and at a minimum meet the requirements of the landlord insurance. Searches will be conducted on the previous addresses the applicants have lived at, as well as tenancy databases to check that the applicants don’t have a shady past. A property manager has many different tools available in their toolkit which allow them to ensure the applicant is the best tenant for the property.
Application selection
The property manager will advise the owner of all tenancy applications received on the property, specifying which ones have made it through their criteria. In most cases, the landlord will then choose the application that they wish to proceed with however some agreements between landlords and agents give the agent the authority to act in their best interest.
Each agency has their own systems in place, but overall these are the things that take place to find great tenants for a rental property.
