Hey guys, Just wondering what sort of questions a property manager would ask to potential tenant references? This involves a reference check on an employer, personal and former property manager. Thank you in advance.
Ask them. You need to ensure they are acting how you expect them to act when they check such information. So YOU can approve them as your tenant. I wouldnt touch a tenant without a check of employment (FT, Casual ??) etc and details of their past two years residency. If its hard to explain its impossible to approve.
Linda, its always good to know what kind of questions you are likely to be asked, I would have a recent bank statement , if possible with regular rent payments showing. I hope this helps
I read and read this post, and couldnt quite respond as it is rather ambiguous. First I thought Linda is the Tenant (Applicant), but then she could be thinking of becoming a PM herself. I would say different sort of question to different sort of References. Perhaps a bit of clarification would help so that I dont get off the tangent.
Sorry from the perspective of a property manager. Pardon me for perhaps being vague. Apart from the generic sort of questions, I was interested to see what other details PM's attempt to extricate from references. Thank you
Three basic types of references. Residency. If it's through a Real Estate, we've usually got a form that goes through and asks for pertinent details such as lease dates, rent amount and payments, any breaches, etc. There's usually an ambiguous question at the end like "would you rent to them again" and it often pays to call the agent if you have any concerns about the tenant or information supplied- people are much more forthcoming over the phone. Private references can be a little more difficult. The first thing you want to do is to try and verify if the person really is the previous LANDLORD (Not a co-tenant, friend, etc.). You can do this by looking at where their contact details came from, verifying information with them and just getting a good feeling from the conversation. They will generally only be listed if it wasn't a terrible tenancy, so you're not likely to have them immediately come out and say the tenants were the worst. Make them comfortable with your questioning, they need to feel like you wont crucify the tenants if they're honest about a couple of not-so-great points, e.g. if their cleaning wasn't amazing. Agents should also bear in mind these conversations can be like a job interview- these people might end up using you! Employment. Most employers will offer little more than confirmation of employment type, pay and period. Rarely will you find Debbie from accounts bagging out John the driver for his work ethic and late arrivals. Personal. These don't tend to be overly useful, only stupid people will include someone who isn't going to say the sun shines out of their proverbial. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but usually you've picked up problems before you get here...! The best use for personal references is to pick up inconsistencies in the information supplied elsewhere- i.e. don't ask "how clean are they", chat about their pets, where they've lived, work, etc.
