Great Tenants for your Rental Property are Determined by YOUR attitude! PART 2

Last Time, we discussed how your personal attitude impacts on the quality of tenants that you attract. Now lets discuss the attitude of your property.

How well dressed is your property?

You turn up to your property viewings, smartly dressed, with organized paperwork and an air of confidence about you. Does your property present the same attitude?

What type of tenant would be attracted to this property?

Without fail, all good tenants want to rent a place that looks good. They want to show their friends and family a place they are proud of. They want to live in nice surroundings.  Bad tenants don't care. Bad tenants just want a place to crash. They will bypass the fantastically presented property, because they know more will be expected from them.

So what will scare off the bad and attract the good?

• A simple well maintained exterior - landscaping, house and fencing
• Clearly defined parking or nicely maintained garaging
• Windows washed
• Everything that can gleam, is gleaming
• Flooring in top notch condition - carpeting or hardwood flooring (or at least get it to a level where it's as close to new as possible)
• Turn up the watts - make it as bright as possible, with bright lighting or lots of natural light

What impression does your property give off?

Weed them out before they get to the door.

You can weed out bad tenants before they even know where the property is - through advertising. When talking about the property, mention reference checks and application fees. This will make a good portion of bad tenants run for the hills.

Highlight the exposed brick.

Highlight the features. Good tenants are those who are looking for a property that will fit into their lifestyle. So highlight that your property is close to cafes, bike trails or is a historic building.

Use words such as "immaculate", "new paint and carpet", or "extremely well cared for". This lets potential tenants know your property is top notch and that you expect it to stay that way!

Recently I wrote about how much it really does cost when a tenant moves out, now factor in costs around a bad tenant. You will have extra repairs and maintenance to factor in and you can see why a good tenant is vital.

It may seem more work and more money to get your property to the above level. But when that good tenant renews year after year, you will be grateful.

So what do you think, is this all a pipe dream and that you still can get bad tenants slipping through the cracks?