How can you avoid those nightmare tenants?
If you can spot the red flags right away, you’ll save yourself time and money!

Today we’re discussing such an important topic. 

The five red flags to help you avoid a nightmare tenant

In the house share business especially, and in any sort of rental, you want to have lovely people living in your homes. 

It's especially important in a house share where we have a responsibility to all our tenants to make sure that everybody we invite to move in, is also going to be a really good fit within the house.

In this blog series we're taking you behind the scenes of how we organise things to keep our business running really smoothly and successfully. 

So here are the five red flags:

And I don't think they're what you think they're going to be, but let me know in the comments below.

Red Flag One - Wants to Move in Today

The first red flag is someone who's trying to put time pressure on you to move in straight away. 

So, they might come in with something like, 

"I really need to move quickly. I've got my deposit in cash and my rent for the first month in cash. Is it okay if I move in today?”. 

Now with this they might be trying to circumvent the referencing process. 

We've never let somebody move into a property in this way. We go through the referencing with everyone. We do know of other people who have let individuals move in this way and it hasn't worked out well in some cases. I wouldn't risk it.

Go through your referencing process with everyone.

Red Flag Two – Getting On-boarding Information is Difficult

Getting all the on-boarding information is so difficult, it's almost painful!Someone might send you part of the information you've asked for, or they might send you all the statements, but with the numbers all obscured. Or they won't have included their contact details for their employer reference or something is missing.

The whole thing becomes a painful and extended experience. That doesn't usually bode well.

Red Flag Three – Move in Now, Pay Later

The third red flag is when a person expects you to subsidise them. 

Let me just explain what I mean by this. 

So say, for example, the room is available from the first of the month and your potential tenant gets paid on the 10th.Some tenants would say something like, 

"Okay, I get paid on the 10th and for my deposit and rent, I'll need to wait until the 10th. Is it okay if I then move in on the 10th instead of the 1st?" 

Other people would say

"Okay, I'll move in on the 1st, and is it OK if I pay my rent and deposit afterwards on the 10th?" 

And that way they're expecting you to subsidise them - as a complete stranger who's never met you before. This person has the expectation that you will subsidise them and that's quite a normal thing to ask you to do!

It can seem like a subtle difference, but it's not. Either you feel responsible for paying your rent or you expect other people, who you don't know you, to pay for you.

I’ve heard horror stories from landlords of people who’ve moved in without paying anything, not paid rent afterwards and stayed until eviction through the courts many months later.

Red Flag Four – A Sibling or Friend is Their Guarantor, Not a Parent

This next one is more for the younger tenants. 

If somebody is moving in who might be 20 or 21 years old and they need a guarantor for whatever reason, but they're offering a friend or a sibling rather than a parent. 

There are, of course, lots of legitimate reasons why someone may not be able to call on a parent to be a guarantor so it’s a point to note, not a definite no. 

Red Flag Five – No Landlord Reference

And the last one is not having previous landlord references. 

For quite a number of our tenants, this is  the first time they're moving out from the home, from their parents. And of course in that situation they won't have a landlord reference. But just be aware that where there's no previous landlord reference, sometimes that can be because the previous landlord wouldn't give a reference.

So, just be mindful that if somebody has three or more of the above red flags, then we would progress their application more cautiously. And also bear in mind these red flags (apart from 1 and 3) could all be explainable. 

We've got great tenants who might have some of these issues, but when they all come together in a cluster you need to proceed with caution.

Here’s a little bonus tip on how to look out for that difficult tenant…

Listen and observe! During both the period of arranging the viewing online and attending the viewing. 

When we’re attending a viewing, we’re there to showcase the house and the service that we provide in a professional and friendly manner.The view is also wanting to show their best side and put their best foot forward! If you find someone is not interested or a bit rude or very curt or indifferent, that can show how they're going to be in the future. 

So as Oprah said, 

“When people show you how they are, believe them the first time.”

Do you agree with my red flags? What are your red flags? 

Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now.

Stephanie & Nicky xx

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