The San Francisco area is full of great tenants. Here are some of the best ways to find great tenants:

When it comes to finding a great tenant in San Francisco, Craigslist is king. You can provide a great ad with a detailed description and a lot of pictures in order to attract tenants to your home or unit. Write an ad that is honest and describes the positive aspects of the unit.  And do include pictures – many tenants will not even look at a property without pictures.   The best Craigslist ads will have pictures of  the kitchen and baths and all other rooms plus a shot of the front of the property.  If you have a floor plan include it – otherwise describe the layout – are all the bedrooms on one floor?  There are plenty of other rental sites you can use to place ads, but Craigslist should be your priority because it is free, and everybody uses it. You will get the maximum exposure for your property when you use this resource.

In order to get a great tenant in San Francisco, you have to make it convenient for people to see your property. If you give out a phone number when advertising the place, make sure you answer your phone. Endless rounds of phone tag will not get your property rented; it will only frustrate the renters who are trying to reach you. Use email to communicate and consider having an open house – it is often the best way to get people in to see your unit – it is convenient for everyone.  In the San Francisco market, one or two open houses are all you need when you have a reasonably priced, well maintained property to rent. It should not take you any longer to find a great tenant.

Finally, consider pets. Lots of great renters have pets, and you might not want to leave them out of your pool of prospective tenants. If you state pets are negotiable it doesn’t obligate you to take a pet and you will have a large pool to choose from.  A person with a five year old golden retriever could be the prefect tenant.

Find your great tenants in San Francisco by placing a terrific ad on Craigslist, holding an open house and considering acceptable pets. If you keep these three goals in mind, you should have no problem finding the ideal renter as you evaluate your rental applications.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us.