Finding good tenants should be a top goal for any owner of investment properties. One bad tenant can wreak havoc on a property and the owner’s wallet – not an ideal investment situation.
It is all too easy to end up with thousands of dollars of repairs and lost rent if
rigorous tenant screening criteria are not adhered to. While there is no way to guarantee perfect tenants across the board, there are time tested measures that bring success:
Credit
Income
Employment Status
Rental History
Criminal Background
Pet Ownership
The key to choosing good tenants is to apply these rental criteria uniformly and make no exceptions. The gut feeling that someone will make a good tenant – perhaps they have a new car, a charismatic smile, a particularly moving sob story – should never be trusted! This can be hard for some people – especially if you are managing the property yourself.
An experienced Property Manager understands the importance of applying rental criteria uniformly across all applicants – not only to choose good tenants but also to stay inside the law.
Did you know that National Fair Housing Laws prohibit discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, and disability? Many states also have housing laws that must be strictly followed when processing rental applications. Further, the Fair Credit Reporting Act details specific requirements around running credit checks that must be properly adhered to to avoid landing in hot water.
These laws can be excruciatingly complicated and understanding them is one of the most crucial tasks a Property Manager performs for an owner. Yet another reason
Why You Should Hire A Property Manager.
At
Crosstown Properties in Austin Texas, we have nearly two decades of experience managing residential rental investment properties and we fully appreciate the necessity of choosing good tenants while following the relevant fair housing and fair credit laws.
Our new partnership with
Acutraq, an Independent Third Party, allows us to streamline our applicant screening process while ensuring that the same rental criteria are applied to all tenants equally.
Should any questions arise, Acutraq provides tech support for the applicants and second to none customer service should we have a concern about an application.
We particularly appreciate that the
Acutraq application is customizable – this allows us to detail our rental criteria and application process on the first page of the application. Every tenant has equal opportunity to read the information and must sign and acknowledge that they understand before moving forward in the application. With the click of a button Acutraq runs Federal and National Criminal Background checks and Credit Reports with Scores. Employment verification and Rental History are also obtained through Acutraq. Our listing agents then double check the applications and manually approve or deny.
Check out our
FAQ for a more detailed explanation of our partnership with Acutraq and how it benefits both our clients and our staff.
Further, the Acutraq application link is included on all property listings on our website and all forms of marketing. By readily providing the rental criteria and the application process on our website, prospective applicants can read these and decide before they apply if they will qualify.
In these ways, all applicants are treated equally, all Fair Housing and Fair Credit laws are abided by, and there is a high likelihood we choose good tenants for our owners. For more information on how we get your property rented, please look through our detailed
FAQ.
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Tenants commonly perceive rent increases as an indication that the landlord does not like them. In reality, a rent increase is simply good business and purely dictated by the market. If you are managing your own rental property, it can be very difficult to stay emotionally detached from the tenant and to correctly increase the rent in accordance to market rates. This is one reason why hiring a property manager is essential to get the most out of your investment property. If the market calls for an increase, in the vast majority of cases it should be done to maximize profit.
The rent can be raised to reflect the current market at the lease end date.
The landlord and the tenant are both required to keep up with the lease end date. Most tenants keep up very closely with the expiration date of their lease, however, sometimes they are quite surprised to receive a renewal (at a rent increase) or vacate notice. Not only will a good property manager do current market rental comps to inform rent increases, they will also keep up with the lease end date.
At Crosstown Properties, we always take this time to evaluate the current rental market. Our leases call for a 30 day notice at the end of the lease term. We make sure to start the process early enough that the tenants get their renewal or vacate notices 10 to 14 days before the 30 day notice starts.
We notify the owner that the lease end date is approaching and make a recommendation for the rent increase offered upon renewal. At the owners direction, we then offer the tenant a new lease with an increased rent and updated lease end date.
This system gives the tenant plenty of time to consider whether or not they are interested in staying for another lease term as well as time to respond to the property manager if they want to negotiate the rent term. As residential property managers in Austin for nearly 20 years, we have been able to raise the rent at lease ends dates for many, many years as the Austin rental market continues to be a real estate goldmine.
People often find us by searching “property management Austin,” “rental home management austin, tx,” “property manager near me,” and “property management companies austin, tx.” We’d love to hear how you found us!