The right tenant? Help!

Hi all,
Ive received an application for my rental property. The applicant is a middle aged woman, part time worker/studying. rent is almost half her weekly income. apparently living on her own. real estate agent states she has leased with them before and is a good tenant etc.
my concerns:
can she afford the rent? its a lot to pay on her income
she was previously living in a unit.. why upgrade to a more expensive property whilst studying and earning a low income.
concerned she may sublease but a lot of people do this (i did it all the time in share housing).

what do you look for in a tenant when leasing a property? do you allow children/pets?

thoughts??

 

affordability seems low - does she have other income?

We look for agency references as number one - the rental history is a great thing to have, also routine inspection reports to show how a property was kept.

A single applicant is ideal because wear and tear on the property will be minimised.
You can't discriminate against children but can make a property pet friendly or not at your discretion. Allowing pets increases the tenant pool that is attracted to your property and allows the property to be leased quicker.

 

....and banning pets only means the tenant hides them anyway.

 

Thankyou!i guess my suspicion is that a single person in a three bed house paying that much rent may get other people in and sublease...I question why u would/could afford that much for a big house for one person...I believe she has income from work and centrelink

 

Is there mature age student allowance from the link? You can get the real estate to ask a few more questions.
What was the PM's opinion

 

It's not unusual for a single person to live in a 3 bedroom place, but it's unusual to be moving to a more expensive property when studying.. What's the reason she's leaving?

 

Subleasing/airbnbing is something I'd specifically ask about.

 

You'd fit another 8 students in those two bedrooms. Even more if they hotbed it.

Geez, that's at least $800-1000/wk cash in hand.

 

I suppose there is a risk they might not have known about sub-leasing as a concept, and the sheer mention of it plants the idea in their mind...

 

I dont want single applicants in mine... they have been the least consistent tenants for me.
I'd be asking the subletting question too.

 

I cant personally ask her as the PM is dealing with her, i doubt they would ask her outright if i requested that plus unlikely she would tell the truth if she was subletting!

 

c

least consisent as in with rent payments??

 

has a grandchild and wants a backyard for them to play in apparently.

 

PM' opinion is that they would be a good tenant and they recommended her. she has rented with them for the last year and never been late with rent, although they didnt say how much she was paying and if she was leasing with others

 

thankyou! i have emailed the agent and asked them what she was previously paying.
ill ask them to ask her if she is considering getting others in too. thanks for your help.
im sure people sublet all the time. i did it for years and years when i was in share housing, never thought this might **** the landlord off!

 

It is not just a matter of irritating, it is wear and tear, costs, and potential damage etc....

If I had any single applicant, I would expect they will have a semi permanent partner of some kind - or will in the future, apart from that, the reasoning sounds ok to me.

 

Consistent as in:
1. Rent payments, one lady fell behind, I think she needed to travel overseas to see her sick dad and her payments sort of then seemed like it was no longer a priority after that... she was hard to move out because any other place would want to see her history of rent payments which were patchy (she did get up to date but it was very inconsistent.. plus we believe her son left iron burn marks on my carpet)... nice tenant though;

2. Another tenant with an extremely demanding personality... I couldn't see the back of him quick enough. I guess it was why his marrage failed... maybe he wanted to take it out on me? His son was absolutely lovely though.

3. Now a guy who decided to move out a little over 3 months in living in one of my properties even though he has a 12 month rental agreement and seems to have fallen behind and I doubt he will be inclined to get up to date. Apparently according to a neighbour this tenant liked to drink a bit too much and broke some wondows and damaged another neighbours car... this neighbour's wife was apparently frightened of him.

So its not to say all single people are bad, far from it but I think there's more stability if tenants are a couple or professional workmates or a family unit... I haven't had any issues with these other kinds of households. And generally speaking... ethnic tenants have been hassle free for me, i've found them to be long term and stable which is what i'm after. Given a choice....