As a professional landlord, the first stage you should carry out when assessing your potential tenant’s suitability is a Tenant Application form.

In one simple form you can gather all the necessary information you need to determine the type of individual your tenant is: who they are, what they are looking for and their personal history.

The form itself can vary from landlord to landlord, but the essentials you should always look for when acquiring a tenant application form are:

Property Details: this section should cover all the basics of your rental property. Its address, the rental price and your tenant’s preferred move in date.

• This part of the form will ask your tenant for their exact personal information: date of birth, marital status, contact details, plus their current and previous addresses.
• In circumstances where you find out you will be having multiple tenants, we suggest you send this form to all participants, as one of the main purposes of this form is for references and credit checks.
• Within this section it is also important to determine how your tenant plans to pay your rent, and the number of tenants who will be living in your property.
• One key factor to include here is the question of how they found out about your property. This can act as a clear indicator of which of your marketing methods are working – did they see your rental property on the web or did they see your advertisement?
  
  Knowing which methods are more successful can help you to adapt your methods and increase the visibility of your rental property.

Employment details: Here you can ascertain whether or not your tenant can afford your rental property. More importantly the details tenants provide for you here will enable you to begin sending out reference requests.

Previous/Current Landlord Details: this section is another good reference source for learning more about your tenant and their previous renting history.

Bank Details: of all the points contained within this application form, this one is the most important. Through this information you can perform a credit check on your tenant and learn about their financial background. You may also add on a standard order form.

Supplementary questionnaire: the purpose to this part of the form is to enable you to acquire more personal facts about your tenant. Do they smoke? Do they have pets?

Depending on your own preferences as a landlord, details about their personal habits can prove to be very beneficial especially if you wish to make your rental property smoke/pet free.

Smoking for example can contribute to lasting aromas and ash marks on furniture if the tenant is not careful - qualities that the following tenant may not appreciate.

Alternatively pets can lead to damaged furnishings both internally and externally - a cost that you will need to keep track of if you are to ensure that your property is well-maintained.

For this reason, we recommend that you keep this part of the tenant application form in, as it will enable you to more specifically choose your tenants.

However, if you are still unsure on how to proceed with this form why not contact one of our property experts today? At a click of a button you can learn all the ins and outs of this essential form and ensure you use it right.

Alternatively, why not take FULL advantage of one of our FREE 2 hour taster sessions, and offer your property investments an intimate 1-to-1 consultation with our top property experts?

For no extra cost at all, you CAN experience the difference. Call us today on 01908 309274.

Resources

• Section 8 Form Tenant Application Form
• Our Free 2 hour trial course