Choosing the right tenants to live in your apartment

Whether you’re looking to buy your first apartment or you’ve just signed the contract for your second place, you’ll probably want to consider renting out your apartment at some point. And when you do, you’ll want to make sure that the tenants who move in are good ones. But how can you tell the tidy, respectful, upstanding citizens from the pretenders? That’s where your real estate agent comes in.

We spoke to Luke Spence, Head of Business Development and Leasing at Beller Real Estate, who has eleven years’ experience matching up beautiful apartments with perfect tenants. In fact, his trophy cabinet already holds two Real Estate awards, Property Manager of the Year (2011) and LEASED Magazine’s Young Achiever of the Year (2012). Here’s what he has to say about finding the ideal tenant...

“I can tell you from experience that prospective tenants who turn up to an inspection on time, neatly dressed, with good manners and clear questions, are usually promising candidates for moving into your apartment.

“Those first impressions count and can ultimately determine whether or not they are successful in their tenancy application. It is the industry norm for apartment rental inspections to last just fifteen minutes (much shorter than sales inspections), so there’s very little time to gauge who the perfect tenants might be. I know we don’t like to judge a book by its cover, but a couple of intelligent questions and a solid handshake can be very telling and certainly help candidates stand out.

“Generally speaking, that first encounter is a good indication of the type of relationship you can expect to have with the tenant during the lease – which, if they plan to rent for half a decade, is quite important. If they are polite and collaborative, you can expect the leasing period to be smooth sailing. If there’s friction as soon as the inspection, you’re setting yourself up for a turbulent leasing period.

“My biggest piece of advice for anyone new to being a landlord, is to make sure you choose tenants who can easily afford your apartment, and ones that seem friendly and professional. And when you find them, move fast. The rental market is very fast paced and demanding, so if you wait too long to make the offer, chances are they will have accepted another tenancy offer. It’s rare in such a competitive market for candidates to have applied for your apartment only.

“If, once you have received applications enough to choose from, you feel like you are lacking the required information to make the decision, speak to your estate agent. He or she can easily get in touch with applicants to clarify any details or provide additional information. Don’t hesitate to reach out to ensure you have everything you need to be 100% certain in your decision – it could save you a lot more hassle in the long run! And having everything in writing will put you in a strong position should anything go wrong during the tenancy.

“Remember, the inspection and application are as much for you and your estate agent to check out prospective tenants as they are for them to check out and apply your apartment.”

Now that you know all the tricks of the trade, are you ready to become a landlord? Check out our off the plan apartments for sale here.