Kona Property Management Blog

Our mainland landlords understand the importance of finding the right tenants for your property. Without a thorough tenant placement process, you can’t trust that your Kona investment property stays safe from bad tenants living in your home when you're thousands of miles away. When it comes to owning a rental property, there are a few critical principles that can make or break your long-term wealth goals.

• Starting with a rental analysis helps you set the right rental price to attract quality potential tenants.
• When the applications come in, you need a foolproof tenant screening process to make sure you choose the right tenant.

Is it worth the effort to screen every applicant before placing a tenant in your rental property? The short answer is "yes" if you plan to sleep at night! Keep reading to find out why.

Bad Tenants Are Expensive Tenants

You might have heard this before, and it’s worth repeating: a bad tenant in your property is worse than having an empty property.  You might think the expense of a vacant property is the worst thing that can happen to your long-term retirement income goals. However, the cost of dealing with a bad tenant is far more expensive than a few weeks without a tenant in your investment property.

Once They Get In, They’re Hard to Get Out

Bad tenants are like a stubborn stain on your favorite shirt: they’re tough to get out. It’s a long, expensive process to remove a tenant from your property after they sign a lease and move in. Without a screening process, terrible tenants can sneak into your Kona investment property. They might seem trustworthy on the application, but once you approve them and they take up residence, they let you see who they really are. Bad tenants:

• Fail to pay the rent on time—if at all
• Violate the terms of the lease agreement; including smoking in your property or having a pet when it’s not allowed
• Cause damage that isn’t “wear-and-tear”
• Leave without notice.

Your investment property is a significant asset. Cleaning up after a bad tenant destroys your property is expensive! The best way to protect your asset from bad tenants is to incorporate a standard screening process before placing a tenant in your Kona rental home.

How Does It Work?

The first rule of tenant screening is to put every applicant through the same process. As a landlord, it’s critical to screen all tenants fairly and thoroughly to avoid discriminatory practices. While you might have personal preferences about who lives in your property, be careful with your criteria and how you screen potential tenants. The Fair Housing Act protects renters and gives you the guidelines you need to avoid a discrimination claim when selecting a tenant.

Set Your Criteria

Before you consider any applicants, set your tenant criteria. Use these criteria as your guideline for considering each applicant. With your standards in place before you begin screening tenants, you’ll avoid the appearance of a biased selection process.

Run a Background Check

You need to know who is applying to live in your Kona investment property. Trusting the information a potential tenant puts on their application without verifying it is risky. A background check should include:

• Credit history
• Criminal background
• Previous rental history.

Be careful how you use this information once you have your reports: landlords cannot apply a blanket denial to every applicant with a criminal record. Be sure you use an FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) compliant partner to run these reports and to deliver and store each applicant’s private information.

Choose Your Tenant

When you find a tenant that passes your background screening—and meets your criteria—it’s time to prepare the lease agreement and make sure your property is ready for them to move in. When you live on the mainland, finding a tenant to live in your Big Island investment property can be stressful. With a thorough screening process, you’ll rest easier knowing you’ve placed a trustworthy renter in your property. Using a Kona property manager helps landlords with the confidence they need to own one or more rental properties on the Big Island. When you can’t be here to choose your tenants, an expert property manager in Kona can screen tenants and choose the right one based on your criteria.

Don’t Risk Your Kona Property!

You want to keep your Kona investment property in excellent condition until you’re ready to move to the Big Island and retire. When landlords skip the tenant screening process, they risk damage and expensive legal procedures to make everything right again. Choose the best Kona property managers to make sure quality tenants take good care of your investment property. Hawaiian Dream Properties has a thorough screening process that follows landlord-tenant regulations to keep your property safe. We work with our property owners to establish criteria for tenants. Our screening resources are quick and thorough to make sure you don’t lose any time finding your next excellent tenant.