Since owning a commercial property is a crucial investment, care should be given to find the right kind of tenant. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the landlords to search and find the right rental tenants.
With a good reputation, knowledge of the target market, the right search strategy, and thorough screening you might find the right kind of tenant.
The place to start
Determine the kind of client you want on your premises. The nature of the tenant you will attract will depend on the type of property and the maintenance it requires. Know that you will be competing with other rentals, so you need to check other comparable amounts also.
First impressions are crucial
To make a good impression on the first instance, you need to view how a potential client would view it; check whether the commercial property is in a good condition that can be useable to carry out the business. Remember that the landlord will attract the tenants that are alike. If you fail to take care of the property, you will attract the tenants that are careless. But, a property is well-maintained will attract tenants who will exercise a high level of care to the property.
Ensure the property is well cared. The property should be well inspected before presenting it to the tenant. The interior design furnishing should be suitable for running the expected business.
Placing the property in the best condition enables you to attract a price for the occupation of the property.
The way to find them
Finding the right tenant for your property can be a tedious task, thus, it will require you to seek for some qualified assistance. Finding the help of a nice property manager will go a long wait to easing the searching task.
Property managers can offer invaluable professional advice to enable you properly screen the tenants and charge a reasonable rent amount.
If you decide to take the task of searching for the tenants yourself, you will need an additional groundwork. You will need to work with some kind of marketing strategy that will enable you lure the good tenants:
- Put your property in a web listing.
- Allocate some time to writing a creative and attractive copy that displays the crucial features of your property.
- If it is offices, place some quality photographs on the property: both outside and inside. You can also determine the room’s atmosphere and temperature through playing around with the colour lighting of the room.
- Launch a proper advertising campaign to make the properties visible to your market.
Forward the property listing information you have prepared to the already business connections you already have established as a start.
Carry out adequate research
When in the process of screening the clients, very few clients actually carryout the basic reference check. It is wise to devote some reasonable amount of time towards checking the normal tenants applications; as you will need to examine the past employers, personal and property managers referees carefully.
You can gauge the reliability of your prospective tenant through asking the past landlord or employer to determine the capability of paying rent on time.
Find out the length of time the tenants have occupied their previous properties through checking a minimum of three references. Good tenants usually stay in a particular property for at least a year which enables them to get a good property manager reference.
The selection process of a good tenant will essentially involve attracting various good applicants and subjecting them to an effective screening process.
When the tenant is found
Prediction of circumstances involving rental property can be a huge task no matter how you feel good about the tenant. The landlord and tenant can be caught off guard with small accidents like spillages on the floor tiles or the carpet to huge damages like fires in some parts of the buildings.
However, landlord insurance can cover the cost of absconding tenants or property damages. A year landlord insurance is capable to cover most of the potential scenarios inclusive of a week’s rent. Therefore, in addition to properly screening the tenant, you should also consider insurance which can assist you recover any losses that may occur.
Keeping tenants
It is the aim of a landlord to find a low-maintenance ideal tenants and hold firmly onto them but the nature of the property market is so fluid that it may not allow that to occur. Many investors feel that meeting the needs of the businesses is easy and all will be well when you find the dream tenants. However, the maintenance requests usually consume a substantial time amount.
A professional property manager will help you ease the unnecessary stress even though it will cost you a part of your rental income. You will be able to be aware of the merits and demerits of tenancies.
If you make a smart move and involve an experienced professional, you will build a reputation as a good landlord making you able to reap handsomely in terms of your rental income.
To be able to fill up your properties, you need to ensure they are enticing.
Finding and retaining tenants can be sometimes tedious, costly and time-consuming process but a rewarding venture since you will make less income when the rentals stay empty for a long time
As a recap
Finding a good real-estate agent that is actively involved in the selection process is the initial step to finding a great tenant.
Putting yourself in the shoes of the tenant will enable you understand the expectations of the tenant. In that way, you will be acquainted with what the tenants would want form the property to productively and smoothly carryout their day-to-day businesses.
You can also ask yourself several questions like what is the property intended to be used for and its expectations. It will enable you evaluate whether the business suitably fits on your property. You will also be able to gauge the practicability of the tenant, and whether the building may require any improvements which can sometimes be costly.
When it comes to evaluating prospective tenants, services of a quality experienced property manager is crucial. They are beneficial as the property manager will enable you deal with the tenant in a manner that you might not be capable of since they are able to act as a middle person in a legally binding contract. Their experiences in dealing with contracts, legislation and tenants will enable they give solid advice and a detailed analysis on what to do in the property market.
