MANAGING
Getting Perfect Tenants
Is critical for success
O
nce you have signed on the dotted line
and your property is officially in your
ownership, it’s time to make the property
work for you and bring home the bacon. The next step
in your investment property journey is tenanting your
property. The only time you are in complete control
of your tenants is before they have stepped in the
front door, that’s why finding the right tenants for
your property are a critical part of success, the wrong
tenants can cause more than just headaches!
Check and check again
To find your perfect tenants you need to stack the
odds in your favour. And one way to do this, is to
check everything about the people applying to be your
tenants.
Relevant documents you must ask for:
Credit Record
Proof of identity (photo ID such as a passport or
driving licence)
36
Residential Handbook 2013
Proof of current address (recent utility bill or
financial statement)
Last three months’ bank statements (is their
account being managed properly, or is it
permanently overdrawn?)
Last three months’ wage slips (for proof of income).
Employer’s reference (full or part-time, length of
time employed)
Accountant’s reference if self-employed.
Last landlord’s reference (establish whether
there were payment issues or if any dilapidation
was recorded)
Once they have provided you with the correct
documents you can see for yourself whether they
are habitual defaulters or pay on time. It is very
important not to just check their credit record,
with a credit amnesty on the cards for some people
who are credit blacklisted, they may come up with
a clear credit record but only because they have
been given credit amnesty. By looking at their bank
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