While nationwide the rental market has been in the doldrums, this certainly isn't the case for Red Bank, New Jersey. Rental yields have shot up across the Garden State, with towns within short commuting distance from NYC (like Red Bank) being in particularly high demand.
With this higher demand comes a need to be more cautious with your tenant screening.
It is essential that you take the time and due diligence to find a tenant that will pay the rent, respect the property, and respect their neighbors. For this, you may wish to consider outsourcing your tenant screening to local, high-quality experts. Here's why.
Consider Tenant Screening Laws
For some landlords, outsourcing tenant screening is a straightforward compliance matter. After all, New Jersey is a state with some of the stricter tenancy laws in America.
It is of course illegal to discriminate against a tenant for any protected characteristic they might have. It is essential that your screening process is airtight in a way that could never be perceived as being discriminatory. New Jersey also requires you to go about routine aspects of your screening such as running a tenant credit check in a very specific way.
Failure to do so will result in serious legal, financial, and reputational penalties for your business. For these reasons, many New Jersey landlords feel that it is safer to leave this process in the hands of professionals.
Is Saving Time Important to You?
Another crucial consideration is whether you have the time to spend on tenant screening.
Even gathering tenant references typically involves multiple emails, phone calls, and search queries. If you are a landlord with multiple properties, it's not hard to see how screening can quickly eat up your schedule.
That's why it might be better to outsource this to professionals, who can take care of every step of the process without you having to be involved at all if you do not want to be.
A Question of Cost-Effectiveness
No matter which route you choose, there are tenant screening costs to consider that can easily become a significant overhead for your Red Bank investment portfolio.
Outsourcing will require you to pay a property management service fee to take care of the process for you. However, doing everything in-house can generate significant admin expenses. It is important to weigh up the overall costs for both and make an informed decision for your assets.
Technical Requirements
Robust tenant screening often requires some degree of technical savvy. After all, you'll need to run credit checks, access and manage financial documents and data, and do all of this in a way that is compliant.
If you feel you do not have the technical know-how or the data management savvy to get this right in the most efficient way, it might be time to consider outsourcing.
Expert Tenant Screening to Red Bank, NJ Landlords
Tenant screening might seem time-consuming and risky, but it's an essential part of running a successful, profitable portfolio. Luckily, you can take all of that potential stress out of your hands.
At Red Bank Property Management Inc., we offer full-service tenant screening with total compliance and the best value for money in the region. You can reach out to our friendly and professional team to find out exactly how we can help.