How do landlords choose between prospective tenants?

[TeenDivided]

We are helping my DD&SIL move into their first flat together, or at least we will when they find one.
Some places seems to be first come first served.
The place they saw today, the agent said all todays viewers will get the option to apply and the landlord will pick from that.
What would make them appeal more, given they can't actually change their circumstances?

I imagine professional couple is still more desirable..
No pets
No benefits
No children.

Not all landlords are the same though so guess it can be just your luck.

Someone with secure employment and less obvious financial commitments. Eg. A single person would appear a more secure tenant than someone with kids or child support payments to make.

Someone who can commit to say two years or more rather than six months may be more attractive.

That's the trouble.
They are moving so SIL can find work, DD is currently disabled so can't work. They need to move out of FIL house as it is unsuitable both location and house.
We are paying / guaranteeing the rent (and have offered to pay 6mnths up front if needed).

I actually like people with animals bizarrely as I like animal people. We have a couple properties and the dog owners are great tenants. I also think morally people should be able to have their pets whether they rent or not.

i look for ability to pay the rent - are both working or is it affordable?

it’s very risky being a landlord in Scotland as you can’t really evict tenants who don’t pay rent. It is why so many landlords are pulling out

I'm a single, working parent and I was chosen from an open house of 9 tenants who viewed the property because I said I wanted a long term rental. My daughter was only 18 months at the time and I had split with her father.

I guess it just is entirely dependent on the nature of the landlord. Some are more flexible, some simply are not.

I think your stumbling block is both unemployed, a landlord will want to protect their income so would pick employed professionals over unemployed (and looking)
By paying 6m upfront you might get a chance, why not look for private rent, I think agency you might be bottom of the pile
Best of luck

No jobs and no housing references.

That's not a good combination.

It's impossible to say as can depend on several factors including landlord's prior experience with tenants. BUT an experienced landlord won't really care as long as the rent is being paid asap. So with that being the case they should apply very quickly for everything that comes up that they like.

Oh and make sure there is nothing off putting on their Facebook pages!

Thanks.
The stupid thing is we are very credit worthy so there really would be zero risk to a landlord, they just need a break. They need to move to where the jobs are as SIL can't do any late shifts for things like hospitality due to lack of public transport to get home etc.

It might well be they just need to get lucky on a first come first served property.

The extra issue is they need ground floor with parking due to DD's mobility issues, so it limits options considerably.

I'd look for someone who generally seems sensible and pleasant. I want someone who'll take care of the house, not trash it. And someone who's looking for somewhere for the longer term is good too.

I know. But there's no jobs where they are that SIL can get to.

I was actually chatting about this with a friend today who’s a landlord with multiple properties.

she looks firstly affordability, so what the income of the tenants is. Where they work, how long they’ve worked there for and how secure their job/employer/sector is. She wants people who will stay for quite a long time.

Most of her properties are fairly low range/budget. So she actually doesn’t want someone on a really good job who’s just moved to the area/town as she knows they will leave after a year/are saving up for a deposit. She prefers lower income but secure workers. Ideally people with family ties in the area. She likes single parents as she’s found for her specific properties they tend to stay. A person without kids might be more likely to move and a couple with/without kids are also more likely at some point to be able to afford somewhere a bit bigger after a while.

I think if you are a guarantor and you pass affordability checks then you should be ok.

I would be honest and put in the application that they require ground floor due to mobility issues from a disability. Someone absolutely will give them a break. Contrary to what a lot of MNetters believe, us landlords don't all have hearts of stone!!! Good luck ❤️

Evidence of stable employment and an income that can afford the rent, no pets, references from employer or previous LL, non smokers.
Evidence of ID and current address.

I've rented loads of places and applied for loads more and it always surprises me how varied the criteria are. Some places (mostly with lettings agents but sometimes individual landlords) are super-rational and just sift for the most applicant who's most financially stable, least likely to cause wear and tear, etc. etc. Some places do first-come-first-served. Dodgy LL choose naive tenants; I had a very sleazy bloke one time who was delighted my then-housemate and I were two women; we didn't rent with him but obviously it was a bit of a warning sign.

The weirdest one I had was a couple who'd bought their deceased friend's flat from her children, and they were over the moon that I was in the same line of work as deceased friend, and shared one of her hobbies. They made me feel slightly uncomfortable TBH.

In general, though, I'd say being professional and pleasant is good; if the market is really hard being able to offer rent up front might help, so that's great.

@TeenDivided

When we applied for our current house there was a lot of interest (we came to view it and it was an open viewing session with about 7 other sets of people!!) and I was very worried we wouldnt get it and, where we live it's a popular area and so rentals don't seem to come up very often.

When we put our application in, we wrote a covering letter explaining why we'd like the property and our local connections to the area etc and we were successful with our application so that could be something to perhaps consider?

We have been landlords for 20 years. We like people with pets as we love animals. And we like people with children, ditto. Plus some landlords do not like people with pets and children and so we assume that we then get tenants who want to be longer term. Our current tenants have been with us 12 years. The previous ones only left because the DH's job moved to Florida.

You'd be surprised how many guarantors don't actually realise they have to cough up if the rent isn't paid.

When DD moved into her flat she had no job, but as I was paying her rent it wasn't a problem. She managed a get a job within a fortnight, but the main thing was she had a reference as she had been renting as a student.

Does your SIL drive? or is it your DD's car?

I let one of our properties out through a management agency and I asked how they would select the tenants. I found out then that the lettings company preselects, then puts a selection through to the landlord. Some people don’t even get a look in.

some things they said were:

Professional jobs (as in jobs that require a registration number, are overseen by a professional body, bound by a code of conduct) with the idea being these people would behave better

very high affordability (tenants need to submit their income per year with proof)

offers of x amount of rent up from the off

Not very helpful to you. If it’s through a lettings agency it is very unlikely to be first come first served.

i really hope they get a break!

Thank you all, you have given me some hope. Unfortunately SIL doesn't drive. Dds accident has made life difficult, and they both had obstacles to overcome before that too. They are due some good fortune.

A tenant who can pay - say - 6 months upfront is always appealing, and would be the only way I'd consider someone who otherwise fails the credit check. Often this will be tenants from overseas who may be solvent but might not have a uk credit score.

I totally appreciate most people cannot do this and we try to be flexible.