Granny Flats for Rent - Rent a Granny Flat - Find a Tenant - How to Choose a Good Tenant for Your Granny Flat

How to Choose a Good Tenant for Your Granny Flat:

A Landlords Guide

Posted on December 12, 2022

1. Follow Your Instincts

Always follow your instincts when you meet the prospect tenants. If the person seems genuine, well presented and can provide the required information with ease they are probably the best option. If your instincts are throwing off warning bells, listen and wait for a better prospect tenant to show up.

2. Consider What Term You're Wanting: Short or Long?

Most landlords like a reliable long term tenant who will care for the property as if it was their own dwelling making it a long secure home for themselves. These tenants generally care for your property and therefore, like it maintained well. So, this looks after your investment.Either look for someone with a good past rental history of several years in one dwelling or someone who has a stable new job relocating and renting out their own home. Another option is to consider someone commencing long term study with security (or solid part time employ), that way they will want to stay in the dwelling through the duration of their studies.

3. Carry Out a Reference Check, known as a Tenant Screening

What is tenant screening?

Finding out some information about the person wanting to rent your property. This can easily be done by having an application form that the tenant can fill in, so you can easily compare applicants.

The Application Form should request:

Their employment history, full time or part time if a student
Job and character references. Hopefully they can even supply written references. Gain the phone number and email address for each of the references so you can research their past job or past tenancy history.
Copy of the tenancy ledger. If they have not rented prior consider proof of continual on time payment of a car loan as a good idea on their history to their financial commitments
Savings on hand *assess payment of bond, they can apply for a rental bond loan if savings are low due to new employ, straight out of uni
Do they smoke?
Do you have a pet that needs accommodating? *if you allow a pet read our article on pet friendly property and protecting the landlord (66% of people looking to rent a granny flat have a pet so this increases your prospect tenant pool)

The above simple questions on the application form can help you with your decision around the most appropriate tenant.

4. Always Meet the Potential Tenants, Even if Their Reference Check Turns out Great

Without meeting the prospect tenant you really have no idea who is moving into your property. This final meeting allows both parties to make sure the property is what they hope for and allows you to research that what they tell you is in line with their application and referencing check in person. It enable you to make sure it will be a positive relationship. Being an owner of a granny flat, as most of our private rental clients are, you will share the premise, so it is imperative to meet the prospect tenant and if possible their pet (if including in the lease) to be sure that you are the right fit.

To consider a scenario where meeting the prospect tenant may be a saving grace, such as they may have stated on their application they don’t smoke only to show up to meet you and they definitely smell of smoke! The pet may be aggressive toward you. A simple meeting prior signing the lease protects both of you. Consider that the person arrives at the property and it is nothing like they expected.

It also protects the tenant and the potential of how they may treat your property. Consider a scenario where they are starting a tenancy in a property they decide on viewing is not right for them and they have to move in due to a lease, creating resentment and then the potential not look after your property, all because they are in a lease they do not wish to have now they have seen the property!

Please be mindful when meeting the prospect tenant in person that there are rules against discriminating against protected characteristics such as age, gender, sexuality, disability and nationality.

5. Question How Prospect Tenants Intend to Look after the Property & Contact Past Landlords

When meeting the person at the property you could ask how they intend to treat the property. They may state that they love gardening and will enjoy maintaining this. Also check with past landlords how they maintained the garden or looked after the property. You could also consider including garden maintenance in the rent to make sure the garden is kept in good order, or offer a slightly reduced rent if they appear to have the skillset to maintain the garden - each tenancy may be different.

6. Enact a TICA Check

As well as the reference check we highly recommend you do a TICA check for insights into prospect tenants' rental histories.

7. Consider Doing a Police Check

It may be worth doing a police check to ensure your comfort with sharing your land with someone, especially if you have young children on the same premise as your granny flat.

8. Narrow Down from Two Great Tenant Choices to One

Finally you are in a great position and cannot decide between what look like two great applicants that both check out perfectly! Now what do you do?

Well, apart from your gut instinct, which has guided me to a great tenant every time - those ones you have a niggling feeling about really do turn out to be difficult in some way.

Some key considerations and questions you can ask the tenant are around the length they hope to stay in the property. A longer more stable tenant is always attractive. I would still recommend a six month lease with option to extend just so you are not locked in too long if there ends up being any issues with the tenancy if self managing. Another attraction to a decision may be how soon one of the prospect tenants can move in. to your needs. The sooner the tenant the sooner you gain an income. Matching a tenants requirements with your preferred needs may help guide you to the best match.

If you can somehow get a feel for their interests, hobbies etc you may be able to also factor who will best match your lifestyle as you are sharing the same land as the landowner where the granny flat resides.

Other considerations:

Can one tenant pay more rent in advance? If it just becomes too hard to decide you could see if either tenant is in the position to pay more rent upfront to secure the property.

Can one tenant pay more weekly? Although a pricing war is not a great idea, if you just cannot choose you can let price dictate by asking if they are in the position to offer more. With affordable housing becoming a big issue this is not the preferred option so exhaust all avenues first!

Now your tenant is chosen, what do you do?

Once you have chosen your tenant make sure you have a tenancy agreement in place to protect you both, a bond paid to the bond board, and you comply to the Landlord and Tenancy Act in your Region.