Property is a great investment. You know that, because you’ve invested heavily, and you have several investment properties that are constantly earning you a passive income, generating wealth and paying for themselves. That’s a smart move. But if you’re finding that you’re spending all of your time dealing with delinquent tenants or looking for new ones, then there may be a few other smart choices you can make. One of those is to invest in a tenant screening package with a professional third party. Here’s what you need to know.
What Are Tenant Screening Packages?
Tenant screening packages are third party services that bundle all of the common screening services you would need for a particular type of tenant agreement (residential, commercial, or other) into one easy-to-use service. Instead of conducting a variety of screening steps yourself, and outsourcing a few, you only have one step in the process.
While that won’t eliminate all your tenant issues, it can help you to make better tenant choices, and take some of the administrative headaches out of the process. So, you get more time to enjoy the benefits of those smart investments. Because that’s what it’s all about.
Is this solution for you, though? Let’s look at the pros and cons of the service.
The Pros of Tenant Screening Packages
There are several benefits to using a tenant screening package, including:
- Saving time. If you have a large property portfolio, the time it takes to screen tenants for all of your properties can really add up.
- Customizing your package to suit the type of tenant you are renting to. You might not need all of the screening options available, or you might not need the same ones for all of your properties. Being able to tailor the service you get to each property type is a big deal.
- Time saving. Often, property owners rush through their screening process, simply because they don’t have the time.
- Legal compliance. With Australian privacy laws being what they are, asking the wrong questions, or even the right ones in the wrong way, can get you in big trouble!
The Cons of Tenant Screening Packages
Even great things do have their downside, and tenant screening packages are no different. Here are a few of the cons that you might want to consider:
- You still have to decide on the screening services. While your screening company can advise you, it’s still your decision, and if you miss any crucial screening services in your packages, you could still be at risk.
- There is a cost involved in using third party screening services, however, if you offset the value of your time against that cost, you’re almost sure to find that it’s still a bargain.
Choosing the right tenant for any rental property can be the difference between trouble-free, passive income, and a nightmare of lost time, lost money, litigation and more. If you’re finding that you simply can’t keep up with the process for all your properties all of the time, then it’s definitely time to consider professional help, and a customized tenant screening package is a great way to go.
