You may be wondering: how do I find a house to lease? Well, this blog is specifically designed to break does the process step by step.
First, find a real estate agent to help you. Often, the property management company (rather than you as the prospective tenant) will pay the tenant’s agent a commission, so it is truly in your best interest to have an agent help you. Property management companies make a ton of money in application fees alone, so having an agent who can call the listing agent on your behalf to verify if it is still available and if there are other applications on file can save you a lot of money in application fees and can prevent you from going through unnecessary emotional connections to houses that have already secured leases.
Second, your real estate agent may go over any questions you have and cover a variety of topics to make sure you are in an optimal position to submit a rental application. Property management companies will often conduct a background check, so it is important for you to take any credit, criminal, employment, and rental history into consideration as you get ready to start your house search.
Next, get your documents together. Property management companies all have their own system for processing applications. Some will accept the official contract forms. Others will require you to apply directly on their web site. Others will have a different process altogether. This is yet another reason having an agent on your side is imperative. They can read the application instructions and make sure you have a clean application that follows their instructions exactly.
Regardless of their system, they will often require color photocopies of your driver’s license, anywhere from one to a few months’ worth of pay stubs, a copy of your tax return, and your bank statements. (BTW: this applies to each tenant 18+ years old.) Having these ready for when you find the perfect house will be helpful so that you do not waste any time. Once a great house hits the market, it does not last long, so you want to be ready at a moment’s notice.
Finally, you will then share your criteria with your real estate agent so that they can start looking for houses for you. I personally like to put my clients on a saved search so that as soon as a house that meets their criteria hits the market, they get notified. Once you find one that you love, you will then follow the application instructions. If you get accepted, congratulations! You’ve found your home!
What do you think? Are you ready to take the steps toward finding a house to lease? Let me know. I would be honored to help you.
BTW: Are you curious what my Looking to Lease Worksheet that I give each of my lease clients looks like? You can download it for FREE by clicking here and scrolling down to fill out my contact form. 🙂
