Leasing your proprety with a real estate broker - Key Information
Residential renting is a common practice in Montreal, both among tenants and landlords. In the city of Montreal, the vacancy rate is very low and the boroughs are mainly tenants. These factors make the residential rental market quite fierce. It can be complex for a tenant to find the right property and landlords to find suitable tenants they will trust.
Dealing with a real estate broker for the purchase or sale of a property is a well-known practice. However, few know that it is possible to be accompanied by a real estate broker for the rental of a property. Renting with a real estate broker can remove weight from your shoulders, in particular by ensuring protection thanks to the law on real estate brokerage. But what are the different advantages and specificities surrounding this support?
For a landlord
''Home staging''' and photographs
Working with a real estate broker to rent out your property helps ensure that the property in question is showcased in the right way. In fact, when taking pictures of the property, your real estate broker will use the “home staging” technique. This effective technique can declutter, depersonalize your property and enhance its appearance so that potential tenants can imagine themselves living in it. By combining “home staging” with quality photographs, taken with the help of a professional photographer, your real estate broker will be ready to promote the property online.
Online promotion
Centris publication
The rental property will then be published on the Centris.ca website. This website brings together more than 43,000 properties for sale or for rent in Quebec. On Centris, properties are displayed by their characteristics (eg: number of bedrooms, surface area, etc.), a description, location and accompanied by photographs. By having a presence on Centris, the real estate broker increases the chances of ensuring good visibility of the property for rent.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing is essential to showcase a property. With the help of a specialized marketing team, your broker will be able to find the online platforms to ensure that the property has good visibility and that it is assured of engagement on social networks. Thus, the rental process could be faster and more efficient.
Management of calls and emails
Your real estate broker will also make sure to filter the many calls and emails to properly inform interested parties about the characteristics of the rental property. This rigorous management will then make it possible to find potential tenants to visit the premises.
Management of visits
The visits of the property will be organized and taken care of by the broker who can then find the suitable tenant.
Suitable tenant
Credit investigation
Finding the right tenant can be difficult. Once the potential tenant has been found, the credit investigation (or the pre-rental investigation) is an important step carried out by the real estate broker. A written certificate from the tenant in question authorizes the credit investigation. The landlord must know if the future tenant has the financial capacity to ensure the rental of his property. By having access to the credit file, it is then possible to determine if the potential tenant is a “good payer”, therefore that he is on time for payment and has a good credit rating.
Criminal record
Through extensive credit investigations, it is also possible to gain access to the potential tenant’s civil and criminal record. It is important to know as much as possible about the future tenant, because he remains unknown. It can then be very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse your decision following the signing of the lease. Your real estate broker will then help you take these precautions.
Promise to lease
For tenants who are not accompanied by a real estate broker, the broker representing the landlord of the property will help them fulfill the residential promise to lease. This mandatory form is made up of various information, among other things, the identification of the parties (e.g. the landlord and the tenant), the subject of the promise to rent, the description of the premises, the rent and the rental conditions, as well as the various obligations of the tenant and his landlord.
Signing of the lease
Signing the lease is the final step in the rental process. The signature signifies compliance with the clauses of the contract. The real estate broker will ensure that there are no omissions in the lease and that all stakeholders are aware of their obligations.
Costs incurred
Just like selling a property, being accompanied by a real estate broker incurs certain costs. For residential rentals, this represents on average one month’s rent.
However, being accompanied by a real estate broker has many advantages. For an owner (landlord), peace of mind and complete support are the advantages of being accompanied by a broker. From the “home staging” of the property, the photographs taken, its online promotion on social networks to the management of calls, emails and visits: the benefits are numerous. These different steps then allow you to rent your property to the right person.
