What do you look for in New tenants?

Hollister11

My parent's have a house up for rent, and are looking for new tennants.

We were discussing what makes a good tenant and what to look for.

All we came up with were

Pay rent on time
Looks after house

Is there anything else you look for in a tenant when renting out your house.

LirW

Depends entirely on the landlord. Many don't want pets and also would prefer a working couple over families with small children.
Look for references from previous landlords and work.
Other than that it can be quite a roulette, references are easy enough to fake and even though a person earns well, seems reliable and has good references they still couldn't look after the house or even worse, stop paying rent.
Just look who seems trustworthy.

davo10

Check RTB website, if they are on it, don't take the risk. References are an absolute must, and phone previous landlord to check them out. No pets, working couples with two incomes is preferable. Avoid HAP/RAS, but do not say that, if they ask, say you do accept both.

nuckeythompson

davo10 wrote:

Check RTB website, if they are on it, don't take the risk. References are an absolute must, and phone previous landlord to check them out. No pets, working couples with two incomes is preferable. Avoid HAP/RAS, but do not say that, if they ask, say you do accept both.

Why avoid hap/ras?

Hollister11

davo10 wrote: »

Check RTB website, if they are on it, don't take the risk. References are an absolute must, and phone previous landlord to check them out. No pets, working couples with two incomes is preferable. Avoid HAP/RAS, but do not say that, if they ask, say you do accept both.

They currently have a RAS tenant in another house. She's been there >10 years, and is the easiest tenant they have ever had.

Arcade_Tryer

Hollister11 wrote: »

They currently have a RAS tenant in another house. She's been there >10 years, and is the easiest tenant they have ever had.

The advice is presumably based on average. But is there even evidence other than anecdotal to support such an assertion?

Pkiernan

Don't offer a 1 year lease. It'll just deprive you if the only rights you have as a landlord - the ability to remove a tenant in the first 6 months if the tenancy.

Look for 3 months deposit.

Hollister11

Pkiernan wrote: »

Don't offer a 1 year lease. It'll just deprive you if the only rights you have as a landlord - the ability to remove a tenant in the first 6 months if the tenancy.

Look for 3 months deposit.

3 months is taking the piss tbh

Who has 6ish grand to pay to rent a house.

Westernyelp

Pkiernan wrote:

Don't offer a 1 year lease. It'll just deprive you if the only rights you have as a landlord - the ability to remove a tenant in the first 6 months if the tenancy.

Pkiernan wrote:

Look for 3 months deposit.

I would not rent off you

Hack12

Look for the following:

- Minimum 6 months bank statements to show capacity to pay rent.
- References but be weary as there is plenty of "good" references to get rid of bad tenants. Always check references.
- Couple is less wear and tear to a family but it all depends on what you want as a family can work good for long term tenants.
- References from there work place. Show you how long employed or jump jobs a lot. Compare this to bank statements showing salary mandated.
- Do an interview and have a questionnaire done and write down everything.

Best of luck as I learned the hard way after "good" references were fake and cost me over 2K to repair damage and as for RTB forget about it...

Snoopy1

If your a tennant there is.no need to provide bank statements. Your work reference is enough. I would run a mile if a landlord asked for them. What I spend is my business and the banks.and not a cheeky landlord

Hack12

Snoooy. Ive learned the hard way. You need to ahow bank stats for a loan to prove repayment capacity so should be no issue when paying rent. If someone wouldn't provide them I just go to the next person. Rather an empty unit than the wrong tenant.

Pkiernan

Westernyelp wrote: »

I would not rent off you

Suits me mate!
Just trying to make the the OP's folks don't get shafted by many of the deadbeats out there.

Snoopy1

I have been a good tennant all my life and I will not show my bank statements to strangers.
Banks are different they can access it anyway

Goat the dote

I might have to leave the family home with my son and our dog and this really worries me. I'd be a HAP tenant, and would not take the piss but it seems to be so hard to get someone who will accept both HAP and a dog. It's a non shedding housetrained dog.
One lady I text just responded that the property was gone, yet renewed it on daft less than a week later

__..__

Check last 3 references before current landlord.
And ask if theyve ever missed the rent, or if they have ever withheld rent, or tried to use deposit as last months rent.
If at any point, when talking to the previous landlords you arent 100% sure they are genuine bin it and move on to the next applicant.
On top of all the good advice above.

handlemaster

if get a vibe off the potential tenant all is not right. trust it move on to the next one

bobbyss

No pets. Ever.
Some tenants put on massive fires in sitting room. You'd think it was Antarctica. No fire guard used though provided I chanced upon this a few times and warned about using it. The fireplace cracked and resulted in so much trouble.

wordofwarning

Hollister11 wrote: »

3 months is taking the piss tbh

Who has 6ish grand to pay to rent a house.

It is the norm in NYC when you can check the tenants credit to the extent that you can see if they didn't pay a gas bill a few years ago! If you have bad credit in NYC, expect to be asked to provide a 6 month deposit. Germany has massive deposits too.

Someone who has 6k of a deposit to rent a house, is someone who can manage their finances. You don't need to be worried about they not paying rent as they are not living paycheck to paycheck. There are a lot of professionals in Dublin who have savings to pay for a 3 month deposit.

I know plenty of people who are landlords, who have tenants who are not bothered in the slightest being late with rent as they horrific at managing their finances. In a country with a near non-existing credit rating system, landlords should be able to protect themselves from bad debts with large deposits.

If you can't afford a 3 month deposit, find another landlord who does not want one

Snoopy1

wordofwarning wrote: »

Hollister11 wrote: »

3 months is taking the piss tbh

Who has 6ish grand to pay to rent a house.

It is the norm in NYC when you can check the tenants credit to the extent that you can see if they didn't pay a gas bill a few years ago! If you have bad credit in NYC, expect to be asked to provide a 6 month deposit. Germany has massive deposits too.

Someone who has 6k of a deposit to rent a house, is someone who can manage their finances. You don't need to be worried about they not paying rent as they are not living paycheck to paycheck. There are a lot of professionals in Dublin who have savings to pay for a 3 month deposit.

I know plenty of people who are landlords, who have tenants who are not bothered in the slightest being late with rent as they horrific at managing their finances. In a country with a near non-existing credit rating system, landlords should be able to protect themselves from bad debts with large deposits.

If you can't afford a 3 month deposit, find another landlord who does not want one

This is ridiculous. Who has the money.for 3 months. Its hard enough for some people to pay the month deposit and month upfront, as rents are so high now.
Also this isnt nyc its ireland

Dial Hard

wordofwarning wrote:

Someone who has 6k of a deposit to rent a house, is someone who can manage their finances. You don't need to be worried about they not paying rent as they are not living paycheck to paycheck. There are a lot of professionals in Dublin who have savings to pay for a 3 month deposit.

That's a bit unfair. I've been in my current house for four years and have never been late with the rent, let alone missed a payment but I certainly wouldn't have had the readies to pay a three month deposit.

davindub

davo10 wrote: »

Check RTB website, if they are on it, don't take the risk. References are an absolute must, and phone previous landlord to check them out. No pets, working couples with two incomes is preferable. Avoid HAP/RAS, but do not say that, if they ask, say you do accept both.

You are recommending breaching 2 of 9 listed grounds grounds of the equal status act.

All it really takes is someone to bring a case, the questions you ask can be used to determine discrimination.

Using the RTB database is equally unwise, after 13 years, you will find a lot of names, but no other identifying information.

davo10

Dial Hard wrote: »

That's a bit unfair. I've been in my current house for four years and have never been late with the rent, let alone missed a payment but I certainly wouldn't have had the readies to pay a three month deposit.

I've been asking for equivalent of three months for years, it's not a deposit of three months, it's first months rent, last months rent and one month deposit. A few have said no to that, but most say no problem.

davo10

davindub wrote: »

You are recommending breaching 2 of 9 listed grounds grounds of the equal status act.

All it really takes is someone to bring a case, the questions you ask can be used to determine discrimination.

Using the RTB database is equally unwise, after 13 years, you will find a lot of names, but no other identifying information.

See the trick is not to ask it/say it, the tenants themselves will you that info and you always say, yes I do accept HAP/RAS.

Names will do, if in doubt, don't take the risk. A lot of vexatious disputes being submitted, you don't want a tenant who does this, better to have an empty property than a bad tenant.

_Dara_

__..__ wrote: »

Check last 3 references before current landlord.
And ask if theyve ever missed the rent, or if they have ever withheld rent, or tried to use deposit as last months rent.
If at any point, when talking to the previous landlords you arent 100% sure they are genuine bin it and move on to the next applicant.
On top of all the good advice above.

I wouldn’t have a notion how to contact anyone but my last landlord. I don’t even know if I have her details, to be honest. Who keeps note of the contact details of the landlord they had two or three rentals ago?

davindub

davo10 wrote: »

See the trick is not to ask it/say it, names will do, if in doubt, don't take the risk.

Bit naive really.

WRC is fairly effective at what they do, to the point of ruthlessness. This goes for equal status acts and employment cases, so in my opinion, the bigger risk would be defending a equal status act rather than ending up with a bad tenant. After the press surrounding the last award, 30k+, you will see a lot more testing of the waters.

davo10

davindub wrote: »

Bit naive really.

WRC is fairly effective at what they do, to the point of ruthlessness. This goes for equal status acts and employment cases, so in my opinion, the bigger risk would be defending a equal status act rather than ending up with a bad tenant. After the press surrounding the last award, 30k+, you will see a lot more testing of the waters.

Ok, I thought I was clear, but maybe I wasn't clear enough. The LL does not ask, the tenant will give that info. The LL should never say they do not accept HAP, that would be discrimination as per the WRC ruling.

You know very well, in the recent WRC case the LL blatantly refused to accept HAP and stupidly informed the tenants. LL do not want to have to deal with HAP/RAS but should under no circumstances inform the tenant that they are refusing it, now that would be naive.

_Dara_

wordofwarning wrote: »

It is the norm in NYC when you can check the tenants credit to the extent that you can see if they didn't pay a gas bill a few years ago! If you have bad credit in NYC, expect to be asked to provide a 6 month deposit. Germany has massive deposits too.

Someone who has 6k of a deposit to rent a house, is someone who can manage their finances. You don't need to be worried about they not paying rent as they are not living paycheck to paycheck. There are a lot of professionals in Dublin who have savings to pay for a 3 month deposit.

I know plenty of people who are landlords, who have tenants who are not bothered in the slightest being late with rent as they horrific at managing their finances. In a country with a near non-existing credit rating system, landlords should be able to protect themselves from bad debts with large deposits.

If you can't afford a 3 month deposit, find another landlord who does not want one

It’s not just about not having the money, it’s that that’s a big chunk of money that the tenant isn’t earning interest on by handing it over to a landlord. Why should the landlord benefit from the interest?

handlemaster

Snoopy1 wrote: »

wordofwarning wrote: »

Hollister11 wrote: »

3 months is taking the piss tbh

Who has 6ish grand to pay to rent a house.

It is the norm in NYC when you can check the tenants credit to the extent that you can see if they didn't pay a gas bill a few years ago! If you have bad credit in NYC, expect to be asked to provide a 6 month deposit. Germany has massive deposits too.

Someone who has 6k of a deposit to rent a house, is someone who can manage their finances. You don't need to be worried about they not paying rent as they are not living paycheck to paycheck. There are a lot of professionals in Dublin who have savings to pay for a 3 month deposit.

I know plenty of people who are landlords, who have tenants who are not bothered in the slightest being late with rent as they horrific at managing their finances. In a country with a near non-existing credit rating system, landlords should be able to protect themselves from bad debts with large deposits.

If you can't afford a 3 month deposit, find another landlord who does not want one

This is ridiculous. Who has the money.for 3 months. Its hard enough for some people to pay the month deposit and month upfront, as rents are so high now.
Also this isnt nyc its ireland[/quot


They are the tenants who will leave the landlord high and dry

davo10

_Dara_ wrote: »

It’s not just about not having the money, it’s that that’s a big chunk of money that the tenant isn’t earning interest on by handing it over to a landlord. Why should the landlord benefit from the interest?

Is there a bank paying worthwhile interest now? If there is, after tax, it would be a couple of Euro a year.

Snoopy1

I rented my last place for 5 years. If I was looking again I certainly would not be able to afford 3 minths rent in one go as I lived on my own. I also woukdnt have a clue who my last landlords prior to that were.
But I also know I am an incredibly good tennant. Rent plus bills payed on time, also kept the place in great condition.
Just because I dont have excessive funds or the paperwork, does not mean I woukd leave you high and dry. In fact the opposite, ive been ripped off by so many landlords