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To find good tenants fast, list your rental on several sites at once, write your screening criteria down before the first inquiry, and apply them to every applicant in the same order. Most landlords look for gross monthly income of about three times the rent, a clean credit and eviction check, and a good reference from a previous landlord. To keep good tenants once they move in, make rent easy to pay, fix maintenance quickly and keep rent increases modest.
Key takeaways
- A good tenant pays in full and on time, looks after the property and reports problems early.
- Set written criteria before you advertise and apply them to everyone. That is both faster and your best protection under the Fair Housing Act.
- A common income rule is gross monthly income of at least 3x the rent.
- Listing on several sites at once brings in more qualified leads, and a fast, organized process stops good applicants signing elsewhere first.
- The US rental vacancy rate was 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, close to 7.0% a year earlier, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Whether you are new to real estate or an experienced landlord, finding good tenants can be hard.
You can't rent to just anyone - but you also can't let your property sit empty for too long.
When finding renters you need to ensure they will be able to and willing to fulfill their obligations as a tenant. They need to:
- Pay the rent on time every month,
- Take care of the property or unit,
- And communicate maintenance issues with you clearly.
A good tenant will make your life easier and may even stay for multiple leases. A bad tenant could result in headaches, lawsuits, and evictions.
While there’s no way to be absolutely certain that a renter is going to be “good”, there are a few things that can be done to increase the odds. From your marketing to your tenant screening and beyond.
In this article, we detail everything you need to know about how to find good tenants fast. We also include lease templates, details on how to run tenant screenings, advice on managing communications, and a free tool you can use to streamline the whole process.
Contents
- What Makes a Good Tenant?
- How to Create A Rental Listing That Attracts Good Tenants
- Setting Your Rental Applicant Criteria
- How To Find Tenants With Online Listings
- Collect and Manage Tenant Applicants
- How To Run Tenant Screenings to Find The Best Tenants
- Final Checks
- Sign an Airtight Lease
- Welcome New Tenants
- How To Collect Rent and Keep Good Tenants
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes a Good Tenant?
When selecting a tenant, you want to ensure that they can and will pay rent on time and in full every single month and that they will look after your property.
There are several ways you can determine the above, including running a credit check to get an idea of their financial responsibility, requesting proof of their current income (generally, you’re looking to ensure the tenants earn a minimum of 3x the monthly rent amount), and looking at their previous rental history to see if they have previously paid rent on time.
Secondary concerns to think about include assessing whether or not the prospective tenant will be tidy and respectful of your property during their tenancy. Though this is harder to determine, you can again look at indicating factors such as rental and eviction history.
What can’t you use to choose a tenant?
When setting your tenant standard you must make sure not to discriminate against any of the protected classes. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or financing of housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. Disability and familial status were added in 1988. Many states and cities protect more classes, such as source of income, so check your local law as well.
What can you use to choose a tenant?
You can however use the following factors to set qualifying criteria for tenants:
- A minimum income requirement (eg. 2-3x monthly rent);
- Eviction history;
- Prior felonies & criminal background;
- Credit score;
- Capability to provide a security deposit;
- Landlord references.
There are other traits like clear communication that also contribute to a good tenant, they're not easy to quantify, so we won't delve into them here.
How To Find Tenants In 8 Steps
The eight steps are: write the listing, set your criteria, advertise on several sites, prescreen leads, run a tenant screening, check references, sign the lease and move the tenant in. Each one is covered below.
Step 1. Writing Your listing
In order to find good tenants, you need to create a rental listing that will generate interest in your property. The better your rental listing the more interest and the higher the quality of applicant you are likely to get.
Create and syndicate rental listings with Landlord Studio. Find out more here →
As such, to find a renter your very first step is writing your rental listing and gathering the assets eg. the photography of the property that will make it stand out from the crowd and encourage great tenants to enquire immediately.
Writing a great listing when looking for tenants
Write a catchy title that includes the price, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and type of property. Highlight a great feature of the property to make it really stand out.
Eg. $800pm – 2 bed/1 bath apartment with balcony and skyline views of the city in Old Chicago Town
Write a short description in which you:
- Highlight the property’s best features eg. is it near downtown, near parks, or has schools close by? Does it have tall ceilings, a usable fireplace, en suites, or a garden?
- Use positive descriptive words such as beautiful, cozy, intimate, spacious, traditional, funky, etc.
- Talk about the neighborhood – why would they want to live in this area? Is it professional, fun, quiet, vibrant?
- Describe what’s nearby – parks, universities, bars, restaurants, schools, train lines,
Give an exciting detail – large garden, beautiful views, balcony, hardwood floors, new renovations, etc - Give details about the rental – are pets allowed? What’s the smoking policy? Are utilities included? How much is the deposit?
- Outline how renters should get in contact to express their interest. Include details of the application process, the credit and background check process and fee, plus a contact name and number.
Related: How To Write The Perfect Rental Listing
Getting photos to find good tenants
Your photography is your first impression. Bad photography will dramatically reduce your chances of capturing interest and reduce the quality of applicants and the number. Some useful tips are:
- Always include multiple photos
- Photograph all of the major rooms.
- Make sure it’s tidy and photographs show off the best elements. Eg. there is a balcony with a view make sure there are photos that show it.
- Think about the lighting – you will want to photograph the property during the day when there is plenty of natural light.
- Think about hiring a professional.
- Include a floor plan.
- Consider including video tours.
Related: How To Get Great Rental Photos For Your Listing
Keep your rental property description concise. Use short sentences and make sure that the text is easily skimmable. Avoid using all caps and exclamation marks and ensure the listing is grammatically correct.
Step 2. How To Find Renters: Setting Your Criteria
Setting predetermined minimum criteria for your prospective renters will make it easier for you to judge applicants on allowable factors, like credit score and rental history.
If none of your prospective tenants meets the standards then you should continue showing the property. If multiple tenants meet the pre-described standards then you should simply rent to the first of the qualifying tenants that applied. Bear in mind the Fair Housing Act as outlined above.
Your criteria might look like this for example:
- Credit score requirement: 650+
- No previous evictions on record.
- Monthly income of 3x the rent.
- A criminal background check, assessed case by case.
Be strict, and apply your criteria fairly to every single applicant. If for any reason you do decide to lower your standards, for example, the property might have been empty for too long, then think about increasing the deposit (check your local laws to determine maximum deposits), or even getting a cosigner.
Step 3. How To Find Tenants: Online Rental Listings
To find great tenants fast you need to get the maximum amount of exposure for your rental listing. This means listing on multiple top platforms. The easiest way to do this is by creating a rental listing on Landlord Studio and then automatically sharing it to Zillow, Zumper, Trulia, HotPads, and more with a single click.
Get more leads and easily manage them in a single location. Collect rental applications online, run tenant screenings, and make move-in day easy. Learn more about finding tenants with Landlord Studio here →
Find renters on Zillow
Zillow is one of the biggest property listing websites in the US and it’s free to list on. The features include an interactive map and allow prospective tenants to compare two properties side by side. You can upgrade a Zillow Rental Manager listing to premium for a one-time fee of $39.99, which boosts its visibility for up to 90 days.
Zillow Rental Manager also includes tenant screening and rent collection.
Find renters on Zumper
Zumper is another large rental listing site with a user-friendly interface. Like Zillow they have basic tools for rent collection and tenant screening as part of their service.
Landlords can post a limited number of listings free, with paid premium plans for more listings or promoted placement.
Find renters on Craigslist
Craigslist is where many people turn for everything from jobs to accommodation. It’s an inexpensive option and allows you to word your listing in your own way. The main problem is that not everyone will be serious when they inquire and that can take up a lot of time.
Find renters on Facebook
Facebook’s more recent updates are leaning towards pushing their groups and their marketplace, so listing on the marketplace and pushing through Facebook’s relevant groups is a surefire way to reach a large audience.
Related: 12 Free Rental Listings Sites To Advertise Your Property
Create and syndicate listings with Landlord Studio
With Landlord Studio you can quickly and easily create a free rental listing and syndicate it across top sites including Zillow, Zumper, Trulia and HotPads with the click of a button.
Maximize your rental listing's exposure without going through the hassle of managing multiple accounts and centralize your lead management into a single system.
To share your listing on sites like Craigslist or Facebook simply copy and paste your listings URL into your listing.
Creating and syndicating your rental listing with Landlord Studio is completely FREE. To get started create your free account today.
Step 4. Collect and Prescreen Tenant Leads
Having an efficient and professional lead management process is essential if you want to secure the best tenants. Tenants will likely be looking at numerous properties at the same time. If your process is too slow a more prepared landlord may secure the tenant first, leaving you with your second or even third choices.
At the same time, it doesn’t make sense to put every potential tenant through the same expensive and time-consuming screening process. You need a way to quickly filter out unqualified tenants.
The easiest way to do this is to collect and manage your applicants using Landlord Studio. Tenants can inquire via your unique Landlord Studio listing URL, and you can use our built-in prescreening questionnaire to efficiently glean all the information you need to make a preliminary decision to weed out time wasters and compare leads.
Step 5. Manage and Screen Tenant Applicants
Once you’ve identified qualified tenants, you can then easily run a tenant screening report with Landlord Studio.
We supply a comprehensive TransUnion tenant screening report which includes everything you need to know to make an informed decision including:
- Credit Score
- ResidentScore
- SSN Verification
- Address History
- Nationwide Criminal & Sex Offender Search
- Nationwide Evictions
- Bankruptcies
Completed reports can be reviewed via the app or desktop software allowing you to streamline the process and ensure you fill your vacancies fast with the very best tenants.
Learn more about rental applications and tenant screening with Landlord Studio →
How To Run A Background & Credit Check using Landlord Studio
A lesson from our Tenant Screening Secrets course.
Step 6. Final Tenant Checks
Check their landlord references
Landlord reference checks are a great way to discover what kind of tenant an applicant is. Often landlords can give you insights that even the most detailed tenant screening report couldn’t give you. For example, they might constantly complain about minor issues, or be very loud and cause issues with neighbors.
Or, while they might not have been through an eviction, they may have regularly been late with rent payments. Going the extra distance to contact their previous landlord can help you avoid issues like this.
Corroborate their story on public platforms
You can often get a good sense of the type of tenant someone is going to be by quickly Googling them and checking their social profiles like Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. For example, they might have said they work as an accountant, but when you look on LinkedIn there is no evidence of this, and their career history doesn’t support this either.
Step 7. Sign The Airtight Lease
The lease is the legal document that outlines the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant. It allows the tenant to occupy and use the property for a specific period of time under certain conditions.
In this way, the lease forms a layer of legal protection for both parties and ensures that both landlord and tenant are clear in their roles towards the property. For example, there might be a joint and several liability clauses, or the details of the landlord’s pet policy. Having the rules clearly outlined upfront will help ensure neither party breaks them.
Step 8. Move The Tenant In
Once you’ve secured an awesome tenant you want to make sure the moving in process goes off without a hitch.
Sending through a detailed welcome letter that outlines the key things they need to know about the house is a great start.
Your welcome letter should provide the following information:
- Next steps and move-in details;
- Setting up utilities;
- Reminder about renters insurance;
- How to pay rent
- How to report maintenance issues;
- Information on garbage collection;
- Parking information – if relevant;
- Neighborhood guidance;
- Contact info.
Following that, something that often yields great ROI is leaving a welcome package for your tenants upon move-in.
Include your welcome letter as well as a few other things like:
- Cleaning supplies;
- Information about the area;
- Local take-out restaurant menus;
- A small appropriate gift.
How should you collect rent from a new tenant?
Collect rent online, through software that pays it straight into your bank account and lets tenants set up automatic payments.
Your work as a landlord doesn't stop once you've secured your tenant and signed the lease. You need to store documents for reference, manage routine inspections, respond to maintenance requests, and of course collect rent.
The best way to collect rent is to use purpose-built software like Landlord Studio to securely collect your rent online. With Landlord Studio payments are made directly into your bank account. Tenants can log into the online portal to view upcoming and historical payments, and even set up automatic payments so you never experience late rent again.
On top of that, you're in control. You set the rent amount, can block partial payments, and automate time-consuming tasks like rent reminder emails, rent receipts, late fees, and even income tracking.
Find out how to collect rent with Landlord Studio →
How do you keep good tenants once you find them?
Keep good tenants by making rent easy to pay, fixing maintenance quickly and keeping rent increases modest and explained. Every tenant who renews saves you a vacancy, a new listing and another round of screening.
It’s not enough to simply secure great tenants. In order to avoid going through this whole process every year (or even more frequently with costly evictions), there are a few things that you can do to ensure your tenant has a stress-free renting experience and wants to stay in your property for longer.
As mentioned above, the first thing to consider is ensuring you have an efficient method for collecting rent. A system like Landlord Studio, with automatic reminders and online payments, cuts down on missed and late rent before it becomes a problem.
Secondly, ensure that maintenance requests are responded to and handled quickly. Again these tasks can be tracked and prioritized in Landlord Studio to help you ensure you never let even small tasks slip through the cracks.
Find out how to streamline property maintenance with Landlord Studio →
Finally, one of the main reasons tenants choose to move is because of what they deem unfair rent increases. So, whilst it’s good business sense to raise the rent regularly by small amounts to keep the rent in line with the current market rates, significant raises will often have your tenants checking out. The subsequent vacancy could end up costing you more than the rent raise would make you.
Start the renewal conversation early, too. Contacting a good tenant 60 to 90 days before the lease ends gives them time to agree before they start viewing other places. A lease renewal agreement template makes the offer quick to send.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a good tenant?
A good tenant pays rent in full and on time, looks after the property and reports maintenance problems early. You can check the first two before signing, with an income check, a credit report, an eviction search and a reference from a previous landlord.
How much should a tenant earn compared with the rent?
Many landlords require gross monthly income of at least three times the rent, so a $1,500 rent needs about $4,500 a month. Some states and cities restrict how income rules apply to tenants who use housing vouchers, so check local law before you set yours.
What credit score should a tenant have?
There is no legal minimum. Many landlords set a floor around 650 and weigh it alongside income and rental history, and whatever number you choose should be written down and applied to every applicant. Our guide to tenant credit checks explains how to read the report.
What can’t landlords use to choose a tenant?
Under the Fair Housing Act, landlords cannot choose or reject a tenant based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. Many states and cities add more protected classes, such as source of income, so check local rules too.
Where is the best place to find tenants?
List on several sites at once. Zillow, Zumper, Trulia and HotPads reach the most renters, and Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist add local reach. Landlord Studio creates one free listing and syndicates it to the major sites, so you manage every lead in one place.
How do you keep good tenants?
Make rent easy to pay, respond to maintenance requests quickly and keep rent increases modest and explained. Starting the renewal conversation 60 to 90 days before the lease ends gives a good tenant a reason to stay before they start looking.