Good tenants pay their rent on time, leave the house fuss-free, and let you live in peace knowing your property is in safe hands. Bad tenants leave you with enraged neighbours, and having to send 10,000 reminders every month to receive the rent.
But bad tenants are hard to spot from initial interactions, especially if all prior communication has been done online. The upside is that, in today’s age of social media, online profiles can tell you quite a bit about a complete stranger.
Now, we’re not saying you should go all Sherlock Holmes and start scrutinising every aspect of your potential tenant’s online profile. But if a tenant’s profile is public, we don’t see why you can’t do a little cyber snooping, just to get a better idea of who you’re about to hand your house keys to.
Here are some ways to spot red flags from your potential tenant, using social media:
1. Employment History
Platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook often display employment history and business affiliations. LinkedIn, which is used to match employers and suitable employees, is useful to find out what your potential tenant’s employment status is. LinkedIn also tends to be frequently updated, as employees want to be aware of new job opportunities.
Your tenant’s employment status can give an indication of how capable they are of paying their rent on time. Some red flags include: Finding an employment history not mentioned in their rental application, having an extremely fast job turnover rate, or worse, being recently unemployed but not declaring it.
Switching jobs frequently may indicate a contract worker or freelancer – that’s not bad in itself, but it does mean they have a variable income. This is a slightly higher risk profile for a tenant.
LinkedIn is also helpful as you know which company to contact directly. Most companies should be able to verify if a person works there (but they’re not obliged to provide additional information such as salary and remuneration packages).
2. Education
Similar to employment statuses, people often post their education qualifications on social media. Education level does not really show what type of tenant a person may be. However, people may inflate their qualifications to give off an impression that they are better able to pay their bills than in reality.
3. Pet Ownership
It’s quite easy to find out if one is a pet owner based on their social media posts. Many owners love to post pictures of their furry, scaly, or feathery pals. Instagram is your handy man in this case.
Check if your potential tenant owns pets and if they have informed you of it. While your tenants may love their pets, you may not be a fan of an extra guest in your home. Some tenants may choose not to reveal that they own pets, perhaps out of urgency to find a place to stay, since it’s not unusual for landlords to dislike pets in their homes. To prevent any unhappiness after the move-in, it may be good to do a little checking of your own.
Some words of caution…
Looking up your tenant’s social media profile can expose you to too much information about them—where they’ve been recently, their taste in music, photos of their crazy night out with friends etc. You get the drift. This excessive information can cloud your judgement and shift your focus away on things that are actually relevant to their suitability as a tenant. Verify basic information and be clear on what information is important and what’s not.
The internet may be more deceiving than your tenant
Regardless of what information you see, remember that as with all things online, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. People can always create fake profiles, or adopt a different online persona. Social media should only be a quick tool to spot possible inconsistencies and red flags, but not a means for thorough tenant screening. Good communication is key to build trust between tenants and landlords. If all else fails, perhaps a face-to-face meet-up is best to appease any concerns that you may have.
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About Georgia Yap
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Whether your HDB apartment is reaching the end of its Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) or your condo has crossed its Seller Stamp Duty (SSD) window, it is always good to know how much you can potentially gain if you were to list and sell your property. Not only that, you’ll also need to know whether your gains would allow you to right-size to the dream home in the neighbourhood you and your family have been eyeing.
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