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Questions to ask prospective tenants

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  • 20-03-2013 9:45pm
    #1
    Fondu
    Registered Users Posts: 76 ✭✭


    Hi Guys,

    Im a new landlord and i used to leave an agency find new tenants, however this time i decided to save myself some money and do it myself. I put my add up 3 days ago and i have 15 people interested in looking at the place.

    I have tenants in the house at the moment and have organized a suitable time for them to show new possible tenants.

    For me i am in no rush to let out the place but in fact want tenants that will respect the house and will be the least amount of hassle. I was wondering what type of questions should i ask, things to look out for, How references should i request and how should i validate that these are correct references?


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    #2
    fasttalkerchat
    Registered Users Posts: 5,652 ✭✭✭fasttalkerchat


    I would ask for a payslip and a previous LL or agency. If its and agency number check it against their website before calling up. If they don't want to give a payslip ask permission to call their employer and they can get someone who is willing to give a reference.
    Don't go OTT on questions or formalities, a good tenant will walk away; a bad one will lie.

    I had one estate agent give me an Application Form asking for 3 people's phone numbers, my bank details, my previous address and a guarantor. They would then contact everyone and get back to me within 2 weeks. Needless to say they were struck off the list. No good tenant will tolerate so much hassle from week 1.


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    #3
    Gatling
    Registered Users Posts: 40,291 ✭✭✭✭Gatling


    2 I'd ask straight out are you viewing on behalf of anybody else,
    And how many apartment's or houses have you previously rented
    360_F_102352090_ie3kLjDIvgrT1sxVDknWCUh8PxgMYzM7.jpg




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    #4
    murphaph
    Registered Users Posts: 19,022 ✭✭✭✭murphaph


    Fondu wrote: »
    Hi Guys,

    Im a new landlord and i used to leave an agency find new tenants, however this time i decided to save myself some money and do it myself. I put my add up 3 days ago and i have 15 people interested in looking at the place.

    I have tenants in the house at the moment and have organized a suitable time for them to show new possible tenants.

    For me i am in no rush to let out the place but in fact want tenants that will respect the house and will be the least amount of hassle. I was wondering what type of questions should i ask, things to look out for, How references should i request and how should i validate that these are correct references?
    Ask them for the addresses of their last 3 tenancies. Check that these can be found in the prtb database (be aware,the database may be incomplete). If none of them can the alarm bells would be ringing for me.

    The current landlord's reference is the one I'd be most wary of as he may be wanting rid of problem tenants himself. The references before their current tenancy would be of more interest to me.

    You could try http://www.tenantreference.ie as well I suppose.


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    #5
    fasttalkerchat
    Registered Users Posts: 5,652 ✭✭✭fasttalkerchat


    murphaph wrote: »
    Ask them for the addresses of their last 3 tenancies. Check that these can be found in the prtb database (be aware,the database may be incomplete). If none of them can the alarm bells would be ringing for me.

    The current landlord's reference is the one I'd be most wary of as he may be wanting rid of problem tenants himself. The references before their current tenancy would be of more interest to me.

    You could try http://www.tenantreference.ie as well I suppose.

    I think 3 is a bit OTT. I certainly would fall down on that one. Also what about someone who was 10 years in their previous property or its their first rental home? You will have no references or will call an agency about someone who cant remember.

    My current one: the agency will give a perfect reference but the LL is uncontactable for much of the year due to extensive travelling.
    Previous 1: Cash in hand, landlord who lived over the border and called in roughly every month for the rent. No hassle but no papertrail either.
    Previous 2: Tried calling him a while back for my current place but the number is dead, no idea what his surname was.

    Before that I was in my mother's house which is owner occupied.


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    #6
    Zamboni
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭Zamboni


    fasttalkerchat wrote: »
    I would ask for a payslip and a previous LL or agency.

    And you'd have some neck.
    What information are you trying to get here that a current employer reference would not provide?


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    #7
    UDP
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,188 ✭✭✭UDP


    Zamboni wrote: »
    And you'd have some neck.
    What information are you trying to get here that a current employer reference would not provide?
    That the person can afford the house. It's standard in germany when renting (at least when dealing with good agencies) and makes sense to know that the person can afford the rent when leasing something to someone for 12 months. Not sure how irish people will feel though when not used to being asked for such information.


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    #8
    Zamboni
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭Zamboni


    UDP wrote: »
    That the person can afford the house. It's standard in germany when renting (at least when dealing with good agencies) and makes sense to know that the person can afford the rent when leasing something to someone for 12 months. Not sure how irish people will feel though when not used to being asked for such information.

    In that case, the landlord should provide full disclosure on their ownership or the property, the mortgage terms and bank statements showing that the mortgage is not in arrears.
    It makes sense to know that the landlord owns the property or can afford the mortgage when leasing something from someone for 12 months.

    This is always a two-way street.


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    #9
    srsly78
    Registered Users Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭srsly78


    Zamboni wrote: »
    And you'd have some neck.
    What information are you trying to get here that a current employer reference would not provide?

    And what about self-employed people that won't have a payslip?


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    #10
    Zamboni
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭Zamboni


    srsly78 wrote: »
    And what about self-employed people that won't have a payslip?

    What about them?
    Maybe you meant to direct that at fasttalkerchat?


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    #11
    djimi
    Registered Users Posts: 13,237 ✭✭✭✭djimi


    Zamboni wrote: »
    In that case, the landlord should provide full disclosure on their ownership or the property, the mortgage terms and bank statements showing that the mortgage is not in arrears.
    It makes sense to know that the landlord owns the property or can afford the mortgage when leasing something from someone for 12 months.

    This is always a two-way street.

    Exactly. If a landlord is allowed to ask me for a payslip then I would in return ask for confirmation that they are up to date with things like management fees, as this is something that would directly affect me as a tenant.


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    #12
    srsly78
    Registered Users Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭srsly78


    Zamboni wrote: »
    What about them?
    Maybe you meant to direct that at fasttalkerchat?

    Obviously I did.


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    #13
    Jarren
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,692 ✭✭✭Jarren


    I'm self employed , how am I suppose to provide the working refs ?

    I don't have issues with refs from the last 3 places I rented in the past but asking for a payslip is a bit too much IMHO.


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    #14
    Janey_Mac
    Registered Users Posts: 139 ✭✭Janey_Mac


    UDP wrote: »
    That the person can afford the house. It's standard in germany when renting (at least when dealing with good agencies) and makes sense to know that the person can afford the rent when leasing something to someone for 12 months. Not sure how irish people will feel though when not used to being asked for such information.

    I've never been asked for a payslip by a potential landlord and if I was, I'd assume they wanted proof of employment, not knowledge of my income, and I'd black out all money amounts.

    I really don't think it's something most Irish people would be happy with.


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    #15
    matrim
    Registered Users Posts: 7,518 ✭✭✭matrim


    Not a chance I'd supply a payslip, a reference from the company fine but not a payslip.

    What I'm normally asked for is

    1) What do you do / Work reference
    2) Pervious landlord reference / number. Possibly last 2 although they are normally ok with 1 if you have been in the last place for a while. E.g last time I was looking I had been in one place for 2 1/2 years then out of the country for a year so getting a reference from 3 1/2 years ago would have been a problem.


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    #16
    fasttalkerchat
    Registered Users Posts: 5,652 ✭✭✭fasttalkerchat


    Id rather supply a payslip as proof of employment than give my bosses phone number.
    you could tear off the part showing how much you earn.
    If its none of his business you can refuse.


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    #17
    Zamboni
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭Zamboni


    fasttalkerchat wrote: »
    Id rather supply a payslip as proof of employment than give my bosses phone number.
    you could tear off the part showing how much you earn.
    If its none of his business you can refuse.

    What reassurance is a prospective landlord going to get that he has respectable tenants from a blank payslip with a couple of tax numbers on it?


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    #18
    Janey_Mac
    Registered Users Posts: 139 ✭✭Janey_Mac


    Zamboni wrote: »
    What reassurance is a prospective landlord going to get that he has respectable tenants from a blank payslip with a couple of tax numbers on it?

    What reassurance does a landlord have that people with high incomes are respectable?


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    #19
    Zamboni
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭Zamboni


    Janey_Mac wrote: »
    What reassurance does a landlord have that people with high incomes are respectable?

    Why are you asking me?


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    #20
    fasttalkerchat
    Registered Users Posts: 5,652 ✭✭✭fasttalkerchat


    Zamboni wrote: »
    What reassurance is a prospective landlord going to get that he has respectable tenants from a blank payslip with a couple of tax numbers on it?

    Name previous address PPS number and that the tenant is in employment. A phone number for an employer may not be genuine or would be too intrusive.


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