She don't drink Speights but.

It's a hard road finding a perfect tenant. When choosing a tenant, it is important to be aware of selection bias. Too many men (sorry boys) have fallen for the pretty young thing who turns up to look at their property, and forget to ask vital things like 'can you afford the rent?' and 'will you actually be living here?'. Yes, sometimes the person who views it is not going to be the occupant, and why do you think that might be? Yep, some tenants know the effect of sex in advertising, and some are not above using it to their advantage, and your disadvantage.


If you know you are prone to the pressure of a pretty smile, make sure you have a robust selection process. It can be as simple as having an application form and making sure you only consider people who actually complete it. Don't justify any gaps on the form - if tenants aren't willing to tell you the information you need, they have good reason to hide it, which isn't good for you.


And of course, ask for references. And then call them! Check they are genuine - that is, not just a mate posing as the old landlord. Its easy to do so, ask them some questions about their investment - you know, one-landlord-to-another kind of chat. It really sorts the posers from the genuine articles.


Your insurance policy may have requirements for robust selection criteria, particularly if you have cover for malicious damage or non-payment of rent. Make sure your claim will stand up to insurance scrutiny by checking your small print and doing the above. Otherwise you are paying too much for your insurance, because no claim will ever be honored.


Too hard? Give us a call and we can take care of it for you, and top it off with our tenant selection guarantee. 04 4711880.