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It's probably the most stressful aspect of being a landlord. Finding a tenant for your property can be more than a little daunting; where do we look for tenants and how do we ensure they are installed into the property quickly?
An empty rental property means money down the drain for a landlord so keeping the property occupied with the rent flowing every month is essential.
Of course, as well as the stress involved in finding tenants in the first place we then need to ensure they are the right person for us.
Someone who will respect the property as if it is their own, who will pay the rent promptly and not call us in the middle of the night every time a lightbulb needs replacing. The last thing you need is to be saddled with the tenant from hell.
But, first things first, you've got to find a tenant.
Finding a tenant
There are a few routes you can go down here from doing everything yourself to partnering with an agent to find and even manage the tenant for you.
The DIY approach
Not one to be recommended and to be honest there isn't really any point in going to the expense of advertising for a tenant.
Your reach would also be limited as private landlords can't use the big property websites such as Rightmove for their property.
Unless you have a family member lined up, or a close friend, it usually makes sense not to try and find your own tenants.
Using an estate agent
You can use an agent to find potential tenants for you and then conduct viewings yourself before using your own judgement to select the person you think will make the ideal tenant.
The good news here is that the internet means landlords no longer need to pay the high fees demanded by high street estate agents for finding tenants.
Online agents provide a low cost fixed fee and will advertise your vacancy on all the leading property websites. The best will even email their own database of clients with details of your property to increase the pool of potential tenants.
The agent will then handle all enquires (this saves you so much time and hassle) and arrange viewings. If this sounds appealing why not try makeurmove’s FREE 7 day find a tenant trial ?
Finding the right tenant
After conducting all the viewings you need to choose the person to whom you are going to award the tenancy.
When considering the different applicants you should:
• Trust your instinct. First impressions count and if you instinctively feel a person is right it usually proves to be the case
• Do comprehensive background checks, an agent can help with referencing if needed
• Always follow up on references. It is surprising how often landlords fail to do this and end up regretting doing so
• Don't be afraid to pry. Don't hold back on your questions, you need to know whether the prospective tenant can afford to pay the rent and what their character is
If all this sounds a little too much, there is another option.
Full property management
The complete hands off solution. If you don't want to bother with finding or even dealing with tenants, this is the kind of service you need.
If you just want to find good tenants fast, simply
