When it comes to property management, finding good tenants can be the difference between a successful rental property or not. After all, you need reliable tenants that will pay the rent so you can in turn cover your expenses. Having a process that includes questions to ask potential tenants can make your job much easier. Overall it will help you gather the information that you need to make the best educated decision for your property and investment.
This post is for you if you are a new landlord or maybe you have a few rental properties and are looking to revamp your tenant screening process. Trust me, it takes just one bad tenant to realize the importance of a thorough screening process.
These questions will help you narrow your search for the perfect tenant. The right questions can save both you and your potential tenants time as you are able to weed out tenants that would not be a good fit.
These questions can be incorporated into your tenant application that you can require of tenants as part of your overall process. Or you can ask some of them as tenants contact you for more information or as you are showing the property.
If you start to notice red flag answers to your questions or you just have a gut feeling that the tenant might not be the best fit, follow your gut! It is better to take your time with the tenant screening process than to rush to fill a property. That is why it is important to have enough cash on hand to carry the property for awhile without rent until you can find a good tenant. In many cases, no tenant can be better than a bad tenant.
Below you can find 30 tenant screening questions to include in your application process. You can pick which ones make sense for you based on your property and location.
30 Screening Questions to Ask Potential Tenants
- What date would you like to move in?
- Why are you moving at this time?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- Are you willing to sign a (x) year lease agreement?
- How many people will be living in the unit?
- Are you familiar with our rental application process?
- Are you familiar with our rental application fee?
- Do you have pets?
- Are you aware of our pet deposit/pet charges and are you willing to abide by them?
- What is your monthly income?
- Where do you currently work?
- How long have you worked there?
- Can you explain any gaps in your employment history?
- Do you work nights or odd hours?
- Are you willing to submit to a credit check?
- Do you have funds available for security deposit and first month’s rent?
- Have you filed for bankruptcy recently?
- Could anything interrupt your ability to pay rent?
- Have you ever been convicted of a relevant crime?
- Have you ever broken a rental agreement?
- Is there anything I should know before I run a criminal background check?
- Have you ever been evicted?
- Can I contact your employer and former landlords?
- How many parking spaces will you require if you live here?
- You and your visitors will be subject to the community’s parking-related rules. Do you have any questions about them?
- Do you or anyone living with you smoke?
- You will be responsible for the lawn and landscaping. Do you have any questions about that?
- You will be subject to the HOA rules for the neighborhood. Do you have any questions about them?
- Can you provide documentation of your monthly income?
- Do you have any questions for me?
Final Thoughts
Knowing which questions to ask is only part of the tenant screening process. For our complete screening process, make sure to check out this post that goes into more detail about the entire process – Complete Guide for Screening and Selecting Tenants
It can be a challenge to stay patient and trust the process in your search for a good tenant. There is always a lot of pressure to find a tenant so that you have income coming in to help pay the bills. It’s important to not let your fear of not finding a tenant take over and approve the first tenant that comes along. Again there are situations when having a bad tenant can be much worse than having no tenant at all.
Until next time, happy managing!
P.S. – For more property management tips make sure to check out some of our other posts:
