Hi, it’s Nick with Sell My San Antonio House. I get this question a lot, especially from folks that are thinking about starting to buy a rental property, and they’re concerned because they’ve heard some horror stories about bad tenants. The first thing I would say is most tenants are good tenants, but there are things that you can do to protect yourself from running into any of the bad ones.
Number one. Your screening. Screen everyone. Even if you feel like they are absolutely fantastic you still go through the screening process. You do the background checks. You’re going to check the credit. And you’re going to call their references to see how they were with the previous folks. Do not budge on this. This is one of the biggest mistakes that I see people make. Absolutely must screen every tenant, no matter how fantastic you think they’re going to be.
Number two. Documentation and your paperwork. No verbal leases. Make sure that you have a written lease that clearly explains the expectations. And, also, I would suggest having in there that you’re going to come check on the property every quarter, every six months, or someone on your team is going to come to take a look at their property. You want to go by your properties just to check and make sure everything’s fine. Usually, everything is fine, but you want to know sooner rather than later if something’s not.
Number three. Act quickly. If you rent property long enough, if you have enough tenants, you’re going to get a bad apple. Do not hesitate, act quickly. If you need to jump on top of it, if you need to start the eviction process, if you need to start documenting your communication with how they’re going to pay, or what’s happening at your property start right away. If you feel like, oh, well I can’t do that then you need to have someone that can, either a friend, another investor, someone who is maybe a little tougher or just have your attorney is what I would suggest. Pay the money. Have them start the process.
Eventually, you’re going to run into a bad apple if you do it long enough, but waiting will only delay the inevitable. So try to avoid the bad tenants. Start with the screening. Document everything, but if you run into one, make sure you take action and start the process right away. I hope this helps. If we can do anything for you give us a shout at (210) 201-6644, or on the website sellmysanantoniohouse.com.