24 y/o, just bought my first house hack. How to avoid poor tenants?!

[Timothy Eaton]

Hi,

I just purchased my first home in the West Seattle area and I am going to be house hacking it as I renovate the unfinished basement, then I will refinance and end up renting both the top unit and the basement (as long as everything goes smoothly). But I am struggling with how to protect myself with poor tenants. Can anyone help?

I understand screening tenants is highly important and that's where I will start. But you can never know exactly how these tenants will be once they move in. In King County, evicting tenants seems to be a horror story. Is there any way I can add some sort of eviction clause that takes precedent over any of the county eviction laws, into the rental agreement?

As for screening tenants, what do landlords do for checking credit, inquiring to previous housing of an applicant, etc? 

P.S. I am looking for a mentor. Can anyone direct me in the right direction? I am more than happy to do some free work for a potential mentor.

[Alec Barnes]

Make sure that you thoroughly screen your applicants. When screening keep an eye on Evictions, Past collections, Criminal history, Credit score. Additionally you should always perform a rental verification and income verification. Keep an eye out for fraud and actually call the applicants place of employment to ensure that the the company is legitimate and that the applicant actually works there. Hope this is helpful!