You've made a smart decision to invest in a rental house in Columbus, GA. The city is one of the top markets for real estate investing in the U.S.
The next thing that's on your to-do list is to find tenants to occupy the property. How do you want to go about it?
You can choose to take a DIY approach, which involves marketing the property and reviewing the rental applications on your own. Alternatively, you can outsource the job to a tenant placement service.
In this article, we're telling you why outsourcing is the smartest approach. Continue reading to learn about its benefits.
1. Get Comprehensive Tenant Screening
One of the biggest risks of owning a rental property is getting bad tenants who violate your rental rules. If a tenant stops paying rent, for example, your rental income will be affected.
Putting all rental applicants through a thorough tenant screening process is key to ensuring bad tenants don't set foot on your property. Unfortunately, most landlords are ill-equipped to vet rental applicants. You either don't have the time or expertise to do effective screening.
On the other hand, a tenant placement service puts tenant screening at the heart of its operations. Its mission is to deliver reliable tenants to landlords, which cannot be achieved without robust screening processes.
So, when you hire a placement service, rest assured that you're also maximizing your chances of getting reliable tenants.
2. Find Tenants Quickly
Although Columbia, GA, is a thriving market for rental real estate, sometimes it can be difficult to find new tenants quickly. When rental demand falls, for example, it can take a couple of months to fill a vacancy -- especially if your property is self-managed.
A tenant placement service is the solution when you want to find tenants fast. A tenant placement company that has plenty of skin in the game will have a database of renters who are looking for ideal properties. When a vacancy is available, the company will get in touch with the renter to enquire about their availability.
3. Avoid Compliance Issues
The processing of tenant acquisition can expose landlords to certain legal liabilities. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination of renters based on disability, race, religion, and other characteristics. Since you have the right to screen renters, it's easy to mistakenly subject renters to a discriminatory screening process if you're not careful.
Many landlords have been sued successfully for discrimination. You don't want to waste your time and money fighting lawsuits that would otherwise have been avoided.
You can avoid exposing yourself to this risk by working with a tenant placement service. These companies know the relevant laws, so they're not likely to engage in discriminatory practices during vetting.
Outsource Tenant Placement
Outsourcing tenant placement comes with big benefits that most landlords would find attractive. If you want to get reliable tenants quickly and avoid legal issues arising from tenant screening, this is the way to go.
In Columbia, GA, Bickerstaff Parham Property Management can be your tenant placement partner of choice. We're a full-service rental management company, so you can also count on us for services like rent collection, property inspection and maintenance, and eviction.
Contact us to learn more about our services.
