Choosing to rent out your home can be a hard choice for many homeowners to make.

Times are tough in today’s economy. A lot of homeowners have to downgrade and move into smaller homes, leaving their present home up for sale. When selling doesn’t pan out, many homeowners look to rent.

But for those who are able to do so, many investors are buying up foreclosed homes and turning around and renting them out.

Regardless of the reason, finding a quality tenant should be your number one priority. Doing so will protect your investment.

Now there are the obvious things you should look for such as verifiable income equal to three times the rent amount. Income could be from a job (preferably a job they have been working at for more than six months), social security, food stamps, or retirement benefits; as long as it is verifiable.

Bounced checks and delinquent payments will show up on their credit reports; make sure you run their credit.

Have they rented before? If so call previous landlords; they have been there and done that. Ask the previous landlords if the applicants paid their rent on time, how they kept the property, how much of their security deposit they received back. Also be sure to ask if they are related to them in anyway. You’d be surprised how many glowing recommendations you will get from mommy or daddy.

If you are on the fence about renting to someone, or you have multiple qualified applicants; examine how they have handled themselves during the application process.

The subsequent examples are some qualities to keep an eye out for:

* They showed up to view the home at the scheduled time. If they are late, their lateness could trickle into other areas of their lives. They could be late with rent or they aren’t concerned about inconveniencing others.

* Ability to get a hold of potential tenants. If during the application process the tenants were very easy to get a hold of or they promptly returned voicemails; that characteristic will more then likely continue through their tenancy. An easy to reach tenant is a desirable person to have in your rental.

* If you get the opportunity to, take a look at the interior of their car. The condition is often an indicator of their cleaning habits, and can translate to the level of cleanliness they will keep inside your residence.

Deciding to rent out your property is the first step; the second is who to rent it to. Hopefully after reading this article; it has become an easier step to finish.

Need to find an efficient Redding Property Management company or great Redding Area Rentals? Northern California Property Management is the premier property management company. To learn more about our company and to view pictures of our listings, click on the previous links.


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