Lee J Schneider Reviews 5 Landlord Tips to Pick Good Tenants

New York, NY, August 08, 2012 --(PR.com)-- When it comes to the selection of new tenants for rental homes and apartments, owners can come across many real challenges.

In addition to finding someone who can pay the rent, the landlord wants a tenant that is respectful of the their property, is prompt in rent payments, gets along well with their neighbors, does not engage in criminal activity and does not require consulting with a landlord-tenant lawyer.

If you're looking to rent a property, or want to get a roommate, here are some tips to help ensure finding a great tenant.

Tenant Reference Review. This is perhaps the most important tip and can be the quickest to complete. Very few landlords actually take the time to contact past landlords—and tenants usually know this fact. Contacting previous owners of a rental property is a great way to see how a prospective tenant will behave if they rent from you. Previous landlords provide very revealing tips about the tenant too, such as if they are loud, pay rent on time, etc.

Tenant Research. Always be sure to run a complete a credit check on each prospective tenant. However, be sure to go deeper and request other additional information. For example, be sure to know if a potential tenant has been convicted of a crime or conducted any illegal activity. Also review employment history for frequent job changes and see if they have had a stable residence in recent years. The best tenants are stable ones.

Evaluate Past Problems. An ideal tenant can have an ideal past—or they might just have a very imperfect one due to circumstances beyond their control. Be sure to keep an open mind when finding the perfect tenant in today’s market. For example, foreclosures can be somewhat, unfortunately, in some markets, so always ask a prospective tenant about their specific situation. After doing research, you may determine that the tenant can afford your rent, but could not bear a huge mortgage. The same is true for poor credit and collections. Investigate the cause of the poor credit problem, since they may be due to valid reasons such as emergency medical bills, unexpected disasters, personal changes such as divorce or due to being downsized from a well paying job.

Review Tenant Law. In addition to the following these tips for choosing tenants, landlords should sit down with a landlord-tenant lawyer as well as know the law. This helps to develop a standardized process of where to find good tenants. It also reduces the burden of the selection of tenants, it will also help prevent inadvertent violations of the law.

Follow Your Intuition. Simply put, do a “gut” check. Review all the pros and cons, analyze the data, check the references, talk to tenants directly and then let it sit for a few hours or ideally a few days. Check in with what feels best and determine what is best by following an intuitive path.

Selecting new tenants for rental homes and apartments can be a hard and costly process but after following these five tips, you should reduce the risks and effort substantially.

Lee J. Schneider focuses on real estate investment strategies. Lee J Schneider originally formed Richmond Equity Management, Inc. in March, 2010. Lee’s areas of concentration are to both “buy and flip” and “buy and hold” residential properties opportunities. Located in Amityville, New York, REM looks to capitalize on current and future market conditions. Originally formed in 1997, under the name LJS Realty Group, REM has acquired many properties. Starting with a one-story ranch in Amityville at a purchase price of $80K Lee J. Schneider later sold the property for $117K for a profit of 37,000. Prior to selling the property, REM rented it out for several years. With a rent roll of $1,600 and a PITI of only 800 Lee was able to see the benefits and the “power” of rental or passive income. Lee is a member of LIREIA, taught sales at previous companies and knows construction.