Filling in the Blanks on Your Housing Application
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Finding a place to live can be hard. Hopefully these tips from Quint’s Affordable Housing team will take out the stress and struggle in your housing search.

RELIABILITY

First of all, good communication is key to finding housing.

Landlords will not spend their time trying to track down potential tenants. The single most important thing you can do to increase your chances of finding a new home, is to make sure your contact information is up to date. Landlords want to rent to tenants that make housing a priority by showing up for appointments, following up, and asking questions. These little things go a long way to convince the landlord that you are serious about finding housing and therefore you are serious about keeping housing. Landlords like when tenants stay for a long time.

TIMELINES

Consider how quickly you are in need of housing.

Is it an emergency or can you wait 1 month or longer? Most affordable housing agencies (including Quint) have a process that can take over 1 month to get approved for housing. If you are in need of immediate housing, it is in your best interest to prioritize market rentals or emergency temporary housing (staying with family/friends, shelters etc).

PROCESS PROCESS PROCESS!

Every landlord has a different rental process.

Some require large and detailed applications, some require credit checks, and some do not require anything more than a meeting. While you are looking for a new home, be prepared to fill out applications. These processes always take time, so plan for your housing search to take time.

 Things to consider while looking for housing are:

  • Where are you living during your housing search?
  • If you struggle with applications, who can support you with them?
  • How do you plan to get to and from your appointments?

UNDERSTANDING LANDLORDS

Landlords are not complicated.

They are looking for specific things in tenants. When you are filling out applications or meeting with potential landlords
make sure your landlord knows these things:

  • Will rent be paid?
  • Will the rental unit be well kept?
  • Will this tenant cause problems for other tenants (parties, many loud guests all night, etc)?

Answering these questions confidently will give you a favorable chance to find a new home.

WHAT DO YOU BRING TO THE TABLE?

Be confident in why you would be a good tenant. What skills do you have that would make a landlord want to rent to you?

For example: 

  • You keep your place clean and tidy;
  • You are good at budgeting and never late on rent;
  • You have excellent communication with landlords and neighbors.

If you have a bad rental history do not try to hide it. It is best to own up to it and use it as a learning experience. If you have had trouble paying rent in the past, ask yourself why and what is different now. Any potential landlord will want to know that you have learned from your previous rental experiences. 

To sum up, finding a new home can be a stressful and chaotic experience. However, by allowing yourself a lot of time to find the right place helps to eliminate stress right from the start. Knowing what information the landlord wants ahead of time is a good way to prepare yourself for the types of questions they might ask. Start the process as early as possible and continually follow up with the landlord.