A question that is asked by many new or would be land lords. If you are considering jumping into real estate as an investment welcome aboard. Real estate presents many wonderful benefits but like any good thing there are also some consequences involved in the process. The best way to mitigate risk with renting property is to ensure you are exercising due diligence with your prospective renter.
One of the most conducive ways to qualify a potential renter is to develop tenant forms that gathers all the necessary information you would need to make sure your property is in good hands. When you meet with the prospective renter, they may come across to you as very genuine and like a sure thing. Before you hand over your keys to them ask them to fill out your tenant forms and get as much information as possible. Some people portray qualities that are in actuality quite the opposite of who they really are. On your form be sure to ask for a credit check. A credit check allows you to view the potential renters financial activity over the past 7 years. This report will give you a very good indication on the character at least financially while asking for a credit check you can also ask for employment information such as the name of their employer and how long they have been employed there. With the application you may request a letter of employment or latest pay stub to verify they are in fact still employed.
You have the credit report and the employment information what else do I need ? You should consider asking for references of previous landlords. Even if they have great financial profile it does not mean that they will take good care of your property. A reference from a previous landlord will help you ensure that the tenant is of good character, on your tenant forms be sure to ask for this and request permission to contact the former landlord. If the landlord and financials check out then you are almost all set the next thing you must ask for is a deposit. A deposit shows that the potential tenant is serious about the deal.In your tenant form you must specify that the deposit is refundable to allay any concerns the renter may have about the application process. if a potential renter does not want to offer a refundable deposit then it shows that they may not be serious at all about the deal. In real estate like many other industries there are those who try to "kick tires" by having well structured tenant forms you will increase the probability of having a successful real estate investment portfolio.
James is an expert in writing about legal forms and documents that may help you when your in the search of the right legal document. He writes many articles about forms ranging from, power of attorney forms,
landlord tenant forms, and almost any legal form that your searching for.