In general, I love my tenants.  They are good people that for different reasons do not neet to buy a house, are here for a short time......or cannot afford to buy a house.   I am of the mentality that In most cases everybody should own their own home, " The American Dream."   In a heavily military area like mine, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and its surroundings we get a lot of people who will only be here for a short time.  Then, we have the locals or people who just moved in to the area. 

Where am I going with this?

Finding the right tenant.  In most areas of my life, I follow my instinct, but when you are talking about giving someone you don't know your hard earned investment, it is a different story.

I prefer to have a vacant property, rather than to rent to someone who will not take care of it.  The most recent dramatic cost was $16,000.  It was a lovely home, and we had to sell it do to this crazy situation. The damage done to the property was vicious and malicious.

There is a national company that will do tenant screening.  "National Tenant Network"  http://www.ntnonline.com/ For a very affordable fee they can do a credit, criminal and tenant history check. (You have to call previous landlords yourself)  Most of the money to pay for their services will come from the tenant application fee.

Every time that I have not followed their advice and rented to a less than qualified tenant, I have paid dearly.  Not all tenants damage property even if they cannot afford the place.  I remember the man who lost his job and couldn't afford the place anymore. He seemed and was a very nice man.  He had four children and after three months of free rent he finally left to live in a one bedroom apartment.  I did not evict him or went after the money he owed.  NTN had recommended in their point system that this was a risky tenant.  I followed my instinct and lost five months rent by the time I was done.

Our local office is run by Mary Saylor. 757.827.5775 (phone)