How Do I Get the Best Tenant in My Nashville Rental Property? | Screening Tips

Lee Blackburn

Finding the highest quality tenant for your rental property requires conducting a detailed resident screening and background check. You want a responsible tenant who pays the rent on time, takes care of the property, and follows the terms of the lease. Today we’re sharing some of the things Omni Property Management does when placing a tenant for owners and investors.

Pre-Qualify Potential Applicants

Do some prequalifying before you show a potential applicant your property. By asking a prospect to fill out a short online form, you know if they have a good chance of qualifying for the home, or if you’re simply wasting your time and theirs by showing the property. Another trick is to also use this prequalification form when verifying the information submitted on the formal application itself. It serves as an excellent cross-reference tool. If the interested party passes the simple and quick prequalification, we immediately schedule the showing and get them in the property for a walk through. Omni provides personal tours with a professional licensed leasing agent who can answer any questions about the property as well as rental requirements and application process. We NEVER provide a code to a stranger/prospect for them to walk through your house on their own!

Application Requirements

Our application is online for peak convenience and efficiency; and asks for comprehensive information, including at least two current and former landlord references, employment history, and permission to run a background check that includes a local and national criminal search. It’s important to follow all Federal Fair Housing laws (which we know intimately!) when you’re screening an application. We also utilize a third-party processing company which streamlines processing and ensures every applicant is treated with 100% consistency. When we’re analyzing tenant credit reports, we don’t get bogged down in scores. Some of the best tenants can have damaged credit thanks to medical bills or student loans. We look at the whole picture. Housing history is the most important element in a credit check, especially evictions. We also look for unpaid and late bills and vehicle repossessions.

Many property management companies will take a quick glance at this information, but we spend time with it. We’ll pull tax records on all rental references to verify the landlord information provided on the application is valid. If there have been a lot of recent job changes, we find out why. Pets are also screened. We consider the breed and size before we approve a pet, and ask for photos, references, and veterinary information.

Property Management Nashville: Lead Management Platform

We don’t believe in simply checking off boxes as we go through the screening process. In 2016, we only had two evictions of over 300 managed properties, which were due to a death and a lost job. Our proprietary lead management platform helps us maintain an online management system for the lifecycle of a tenant’s lease. From the moment we make contact, we begin documenting everything – from showings to phone calls to the day the rental letter was sent and the tenant moved in. It serves as a public calendar for our agents, and assures owners that leads aren’t slipping through the cracks in an attempt to get the property rented as quickly as possible to the best possible tenant.

Omni Property Management provides the most comprehensive and successful screening system available as part of our standard leasing process. If you have any questions about our screening process or Nashville property management services, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Omni, Realtors and Property Management. Our goal is to maximize the performance of your real estate asset and create lasting professional relationships.