5 Tips for Real Estate Agents to Find Tenants

As a realtor, having your hands on high-quality properties is the first challenge when you want to generate rental income. Once you have your properties, attracting strong tenants is critical to getting the best possible ROI. There are various key tactics real estate agents can use to get the right tenants:

Add people to your database and contact them as needed.

Add all contact information to your database. Use a postcard that contains a restaurant coupon or similar valuable item. If you’re a realtor, “[y]our database is your most valuable asset” for renting properties, according to real estate education site Kapre.

Screen well.

You want to check all tenants carefully:

• Interview potential renters methodically, asking them if they have ever been evicted and why they are moving. Inquire if they own pets, as well as who will be living at the property.
• Talk with past landlords, and speak with all other references.
• Look into applicants’ incomes, check their credit scores, and assess their criminal backgrounds.

Perform routine maintenance.

If you want to get great tenants, you want to take care of preventive maintenance. You will let tenants know that they can feel at ease when you stage the property well, and that means you are ready ahead of time, with little to do in the way of cleaning and repairs. Your chance that things will need to be repaired over time will diminish with regular maintenance, while quick fixes will keep your tenants happy and improve retention.

Hold open houses.

You can often find tenants for rentals in strong school districts simply by holding open houses. Anyone who does not get the rental becomes a great lead for renting or buying another property.

Create eye-catching listings.

You want the listing to be brief but to properly describe the property. There should be a powerful headline to draw in prospects. It should be straightforward to get in touch with you. Finally, it is critical to include great photographs. Incredibly, you get 10 times as much time to work with a potential tenant’s attention (20 seconds vs. 2 seconds) when you have one rather than no images, per The Wall Street Journal.

Finding great tenants

Are you a realtor in need of excellent tenants for your properties? Use your database, screen well, and perform regular maintenance. Hold open houses, and work up the best possible listings. By taking these simple steps, you greatly increase your chance of finding reliable, long-term tenants who will care for your property like it is their own.