What Do You Say to an Enquiring Tenant?

Save yourself precious time

As long as you know what's important to you in a tenant and you understand the market your property is competing in, that initial tenant enquiry call can do a lot more than just getting a time in for the viewing.

If you have your questions (and the answers you are looking for) ready then that call can work hard to avoid wasted viewings and save you both time and money.

When we asked Upad Landlords what they asked we had dozens of great answers. As promised, here are ten more for you to consider using next time you want to find tenants.

1. Where do you currently work and do you enjoy your job?

(Chris Ingram)
Depending on how they react, it can give you an indication on how long they might stay at their current work place and how long they have worked there for. If for example they hated the job and got fired or left, could they still pay the rent? This should give you an indication on how financially stable they are.

2. Are you good at DIY?

(George Brown)
Not having huge bills for property maintenance is always a tricky part. Tenants don't need to be experts to fix minor repairs. You can eventually reward your tenants by giving them some money back from the rent.

3. Do you know where the property is and do you know the area?

(Janette Horton)
Make sure the location will suit them i.e for commuting, schools, shopping, etc...

4. When would you like to move in?

(David Tarn)
This may seem silly or obvious but in my experience when tenants tell you they'd like to move in straightaway, it's usually a sign of them doing a runner from their current landlord.

5. Would your current landlord be willing to offer a reference and if not, why?

(Jo Jones)
That will give you an idea of what type of tenants they might be and what kind of landlord-tenant relationship you could have with them.

6. How many of you are thinking of moving in?

(Yael Biran)
To save money, some tenants will move into properties which don't have enough bedrooms and will turn lounges/dining rooms into another bedroom.

It's all in the delivery

Particularly to new landlords, some of the questions posed may seem to be just too awkward to ask on the phone and some may even feel they will put perfectly good tenants off.

However as long as you're willing to explain why you've asked these questions, you deliver them in a friendly and professional manner and you allow the enquiring tenant just as much opportunity to quiz you there really shouldn't be a problem. As several landlords have commented, if a tenant isn't willing to answer any of these and can't justify why then there should be an alarm bell ringing.