landlords walking down the steps during a property showing

Every landlord hopes they can generate tenant leads through a rental listing, but the work doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve been contacted by a prospective tenant, the next step is scheduling a virtual or in-person rental property showing to show them the property and get to know them better.

In addition to asking them questions regarding their renting history, there are additional things to look out for when meeting with tenants interested in your property.

7 Things to Look Out For During Rental Property Showings

Rental property showings give you an opportunity to meet with prospective tenants and get a feel on who they are before having them fill out a rental application. To help you feel prepared for each showing, we outlined seven things to keep an eye on when showing your property.

1. The Amount of People at the Property Showing

Even if one person is interested in the property, there may be instances where more than one person shows up during the showing. Although this isn’t something to worry about, it’s advised to ask everyone present if they’ll be applying for the property or simply tagging along to view the property with a friend.

Once you’ve determined who your prospective tenants are in the group, you can direct your questions to them to get a better understanding on what they’re looking for, their rental history, and if it’s a good fit for them.

2. Previous Landlord Issues

The tenant screening process typically includes contacting previous landlords to learn more about an applicant’s renting history, but you can also ask questions during a property showing. You can ask about their previous experience with renting, what they value in a landlord, and if they experienced any property-related issues in the past.

If they have experienced issues with their previous landlord, this could be a great chance to discuss them in-person to give each prospective tenant a fair chance at applying for the rental property.

3. Rushing to Find a Place

There may be times where a tenant needs to relocate to a new property in a few days or a few weeks. This could be due to a sudden job change that requires them to relocate, their original home suddenly being sold by the landlord, or an eviction.

Whatever the reason is, it’s important to understand the situation from both parties’ perspective to fairly screen each person interested in your property.

4. Arriving Late to a Showing

As a landlord, you want your tenants to respect your time and your property. If a person is late to your apartment showing with no notice, then this could be something to keep in mind later on. Good tenants notify landlords on any issues beforehand and not when it’s too late — even during the rental property showing stage of the rental process. However, this should not be the reason to deny an applicant since issues can come up right before a property showing.

5. Hard to Coordinate With

Was the prospective tenant easy to coordinate with? In a perfect world, your tenant would pay on time every month and the apartment would never require any maintenance. But there will be times where you’ll need to coordinate with the tenant to handle maintenance requests, get rent on time, and more.

For that reason, landlords are advised to pay attention to how easy it is to coordinate with them early on since this will be a huge part of the renting process.

6. Unhappy With the Property

Different tenants prefer different types of rental properties, so there may be a chance that they’re unhappy with yours during the initial tour. This is a normal part of the renting process, and can even make it easier to filter through tenant leads early on.

If a prospective tenant is unhappy with the property, you can ask what they’re looking for and see if maybe there’s renovations you can implement in the future to attract more business.

7. Pet-Related Issues

If you allow pets on your rental property, then you’ll most likely come across more than one tenant that owns a pet or two. In addition to asking about the type of pet they own, you can inquire as to whether or not any of their pets have behavioral issues to be aware of.

Are they aggressive towards other dogs? Have they gone through dog training? These are questions that can help you better understand the types of pets they own prior to having them submit an application online.

What Should Landlords Do After a Rental Property Showing?

Once you’ve showed your property to tenants, the next step is having them complete an online rental application to begin the rental background process. Property management platforms like Avail allows landlords to begin the tenant screening process by requiring tenants to complete a rental application, authorize tenant screening reporting, to then populate the results online.

If you’ve requested more than one tenant complete an application, you can also compare them side by side on Avail to help you find your next tenant. A general rule of thumb is finding tenants that meet your criteria, showed genuine interest towards your property, and can afford to pay rent each month.

Other Factors Landlords Should Consider

This will most likely be the first face-to-face meeting with your new tenants. While it’s not an alternative for a thorough on-paper screening process, you still may be able to learn a lot about the tenant and how they may take care of the property, if they’re polite, and how they behave as you show them around.

The best way to increase your chances of finding your next apartment is by conducting both apartment showings and rental applications when sorting through your tenant leads.

Create a Rental Application on Avail

A rental property showing allows you to meet with your prospective tenants and ask questions you need the answers to prior to the application process. Once you’ve met with all your tenant leads, you can create a rental application for free on Avail to help you fill your property.

Create an account to start the process of making renting easier for both you and your tenants.