What to Look for in a Tenant

If you’re planning on renting your home or investment property, one of the most important things you’ll do is find a reliable tenant. That’s why it’s so important to find qualified, responsible people to rent your property, but how do you know what to look for in a tenant? When you hire Coakley Realty as your property manager in Maryland, Northern Virginia or Washington, DC, we can help you find the best tenants for your home or investment property because we have high standards for qualification.

If you’re wondering what to look for in a tenant, here’s a few of the things we always keep in mind when qualifying someone for your property:

Good credit history – This is one of the most important aspects of what to look for in a tenant—particularly a good tenant! Our property managers will always do a complete background check on your prospective tenants and assess their entire credit history. This can give us excellent insight into their payment history, debt and more to ensure they will be a good fit for your property financially.

Strong references – At Coakley Realty, when we’re selecting qualified tenants for your property, we will thoroughly check each listed reference to get a good idea about the applicant’s personality, responsibility, trustworthiness and more.

Previous residence – In addition to checking all references, our property managers will always contact the previous landlord whenever possible to determine a few key pieces of information about the applicant, such as:

• Length of residency
• Upkeep and maintenance of property
• Number of complaints or problems
• Rent payment—how did they pay, was it on time or late, etc.

These are the kinds of things that let us know what kind of tenant the applicant is going to be because how their previous landlord felt about them is probably on par with how you’re going to feel about them.

Ability to pay – When determining what to look for in a tenant, knowing whether or not they have the means to pay rent is incredibly important. You need to know if they have a steady income, if it’s enough to cover rent and utilities, and whether or not they are regularly on time for bills because there’s nothing worse than tenants who can’t pay their bills.

Relatives and friends – This is more of a guideline than a steadfast rule, but it’s always easier to rent to a stranger than a family member or friend. It may seem nice and like you’re doing them a favor, but when it comes to what to look for in a tenant, sometimes this situation can turn into a nightmare. It is often much easier to set the rules—as well as enforce them—with strangers rather than people you’ve known your whole life.

Knowing what to look for in a tenant is important to the success of your investment property, and the property managers at Coakley Realty can help you separate the qualified tenants from the rest. If you’re looking for a property manager in Gaithersburg or anywhere else in Maryland, Northern Virginia or Washington, DC, call us today! Not only can we help you find the perfect tenants for your property, we can also help you draft lease agreements, schedule repairs and more!