How do I make sure I don’t get a nightmare tenant?

Original post

Reply by James

First of all: There’s never a 100% guarantee of a quality tenant. People’s situations can change, their true colors can show over time, they can fall onto hard times, etc.

BUT you can go far with due diligence and avoid issues the vast majority of the time. You just have to understand none of this is foolproof.

Personally, I follow some general rules during screening:

- Income at least 3x monthly rent (paystub, W2, etc. required)

- Credit score 550+

- No prior evictions

- Good rec from current/prior landlord

- No criminal history

- Must be making reliable payments on any outstanding debt

These criteria have worked for me 99.9% of the time. I’ve only had a few truly bad tenants in my many years of investing.

Reply by Layla

Hi there,

I completely agree with everything James said. I’ve been investing in the Bay Area with my husband for about 10 years, and while we’ve had our share of challenging tenants, I’ve found some strategies that really help in finding quality tenants.

First, make sure to check credit reports, rental history, and conduct background checks. The service we use compiles all 3 into one report. I also concurr about reaching out to previous landlords for references—sometimes you can get valuable insights that aren’t in a report.

Also, consider setting clear expectations in your lease regarding payment deadlines and maintenance responsibilities. A lot of times tenants will filter themselves out and look for a different property if they see that your policies are strict and they aren't going to get away with anything.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to trust your gut. If something feels off during the application process, it’s okay to keep looking. It might take a bit longer, but the rent you'll miss for a couple weeks doesn't compare to the cost of evicting a bad tenant down the line.

Reply by Aiden

Unfortunately, there isn't a way to be 100% certain (that goes for all things in life, though). But you can do things to be a lot more certain. Screen tenants carefully, run background/credit checks, and for god's sake, call former landlords. I can't tell you how many times PO's could avoid bad tenants by simply calling former landlords. It seems annoying, but it's worth the effort.

Reply by Christina Calderon

The more effort you put into screening up front, the higher your chances are of securing a great tenant. So many POs talk about their horrible experiences with tenants, and while it's true you can't predict what will happen 100% of the time, you can reduce the risk a lot just by running a simple credit & criminal check.