How to Conduct a Background Check on a Home/Home Owner

If you're in the market for new rental property, there are many things to take into consideration. You want to be as sure as you possibly can that the home you're thinking about buying is worth the financial risk. Purchasing a home in which to live is one thing, but if you hope to rent it and make a profit you need to be especially careful. Conducting a background check on the home and its owner is imperative. Following are a few tips on carrying out that check.

Collect Information

You will need to collect as much information as you can about the property you're considering buying. Who owned it in the past? How long has the present owner been in possession of the property? Do they have a record of owning previous properties? If so, how did they take care of the property? The more information you have the easier it'll be to make a decision on whether or not this is the property you've been looking for. In order to gather this information you'll need to delve into the history of the property, as well as the property owner.

Get Their Permission

In order to do more than a cursory search into a homeowner's past you will need their permission in writing to do a background check. You can get some insight into their character by noting their reaction to your asking them to sign a permission form. If they don't hesitate you can be relatively sure they have nothing to hide. However, if they balk at your request you may want to be extremely thorough in your search. A lot of information is deemed to be confidential, so this permission form is important, because public records will only reveal a limited amount of information.

Check Their Credit History

You will need to take a close look at the homeowner's credit history. You may have to pay for a credit report from a credit bureau in order to find out enough information about them. If they have a good credit score they are probably reliable people, but you will need to dig into their financial expenditures to see whether or not they spend the money to ensure the home and property is kept up properly.

Check Their Criminal History

Contact your local police department or sheriff's office and find out if the potential tenant has a criminal history. Doing criminal background checks is part of the process of determining whether or not to buy the property. There will probably be a fee associated with a criminal background check. Once again, public records may only take you to a certain point, and you may have to pay more for an in depth criminal background check. However, this information could prove invaluable by giving you insight into the character of the homeowner you plan to buy from.

Get References

It doesn't matter whether you're planning to buy real estate or hiring help for your company, you need to ask for references from the person you're dealing with. Have the homeowner supply you with a list of references that will vouch for them, and their character. If possible, ask them to supply a reference from someone within the real estate industry. They would have an informed opinion of how the homeowner takes care of their property.

Check Public Records

Hand in hand with personal references your background check should include information from the homeowner's past and present employers. They will have worked around the homeowner for a period of time and can tell you how they treat other people, and the property of others. This will give you insight into their character. You may also want to check the public records at the county clerk's office. The database at the county level will more than likely provide significant insight into how they conduct their personal lives, which is an important consideration when you're thinking about buying their property.

Read more about conducting a criminal background check.

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