Residents
Owners
Social media has changed the way we interact in our daily lives. As long as you do this correctly you can use this valuable information, which is at your fingertips, to your advantage.
Where Should You Start Looking
Even if you are a stranger to social media it is fairly easy to navigate some popular sites. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are very popular right now and full of useful information.
If your potential tenant has set their account to public, then anyone has access to this information without any risk of wrong doing. People are more frequently documenting their daily lives, sometimes even hour by hour.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Some people are very quick to post pictures and videos of their lives. You may find that you have a party animal on your hands. Some have even been brazen enough to post showing them destroying property.
Look closer at that selfie or any other picture for that matter, do you see holes in the walls, do you see torn up carpet, do you see pets, are things neat and tidy?
Stay Fair and Non-judgmental
You should be consistent in your social media search, including checking all, not just one.
During your search you might find that you have differing views regarding politics, religion or sports team. This will not necessarily make them a bad tenant, so use this information wisely.
To protect yourself from Fair Housing Complaints do not discriminate and document your findings.
Try Using Technology to your Advantage
There is quite a bit to be learned from scouring potential tenants on their social media accounts. Use this information as an additional tool to help determine if you might have a good tenant in front of you. Just make sure you’re fair about the information you find and don’t write off a potential tenant over something silly.
