Why it’s important to get a tenant’s credit report

Doing your due diligence when it comes to selecting tenants is an integral part of the rental process. After all, you’re essentially inviting strangers to live on your property – which doesn’t come without risk.

In order to evaluate both the financial suitability and trustworthiness of applicants, credit checks have become an indispensable tool for landlords and property managers to screen tenants. A tenant credit check can provide you with valuable information on an applicant’s credit history, borrowing patterns, and overall reliability. By reviewing this information, you can make an informed decision on whether to accept or reject a rental application.

The main purpose here is to protect your investment and minimize the risk that comes with renting. By choosing to rent to applicants with a strong credit score and a good history of making payments on time, you’re cutting down on your chances of late or missed rent payments, or worse.

How much does an untrustworthy tenant cost?

Troublesome tenants don’t just take an emotional toll on you, they can also seriously impact your financial situation and turn your profitable rental business into a costly burden. It’s not just missed rent payments that landlords have to worry about, either. In addition to causing you to lose out on potential revenue, untrustworthy tenants can add a ton of unforeseen expenses to your operations by causing significant damage to the unit, scaring off neighbours, and refusing to move out.

Here’s a sample breakdown of what an untrustworthy tenant could cost you, in a worst-case scenario:

• Damage to interior finishes — $3,300 ($300 for drywall repairs, $3,000 for painting)
• Missed rent payments — $2,500 (approximate average monthly rent for a 1 br. unit in Vancouver or Downtown Toronto)
• Plumbing repairs — $390
• Unhappy neighbours/other tenants leaving — $2,500
• Eviction / legal fees — $1,050)
• Vacant unit — $2,500

Total: $12,240

Bear in mind that this is just an estimate, and is based on a situation where the tenant not only misses rent payments, but also causes damage and major disturbances to other tenants. Still, this worst-case scenario can quickly become a reality if landlords aren’t proactive about their tenant screening.

How to get a tenant’s credit check in Canada

Credit information in Canada typically comes from one of the country’s two major credit bureaus: Equifax® or TransUnion®. There are a few ways landlords can obtain this information:

• Directly from a credit bureau — With applicants’ consent, landlords can grab a credit report from either of Canada’s two major credit bureaus
• Through a tenant screening service — Tools like liv.rent’s Trust Score allow you to quickly & easily access applicants’ credit history, often including additional information as well – like income & employment verification documents, court records, and a detailed risk assessment in the case of the Trust Score.
• Asking the tenant to provide a credit report — It’s also common for landlords to ask tenants to purchase a credit report themselves and provide a copy with their application.
• Using a property management company — Some busy landlords opt to use a property management company for handling their rental properties. These professionals will also take care of tenant screening for you using one of the above methods.

What information does a tenant credit check include?

A tenant credit check in Canada is primarily used to evaluate a tenant’s financial suitability based on their spending habits and debt levels. This takes the form of a credit report that summarizes their credit history, including:

• Credit score
• Any outstanding debts, loans or bankruptcies
• Payment history on loans, credit cards, and other financial obligations

The Trust Score from liv.rent also includes additional information, like:

• Employment history and income details
• Court records or other details
• Risk assessment

How much does a tenant credit check cost in Canada?

The cost of a tenant credit check in Canada varies greatly depending on the method used to obtain it. Getting this information can be free to landlords if they request that tenants pay for and provide their own credit report, however there are plenty of different ways to get this information on your own at varying price points.

Typically, a tenant credit check will cost $10-30 per report from either Equifax® or TransUnion®, with prices varying greatly depending on the level of detail and the specific package purchased.

If you’re using a third-party tenant screening service, prices similarly range from about $15 per report, to monthly and yearly payment plans that offer several included reports for a given period. The section below will provide a more detailed overview of the different credit check options available to Canadian landlords, including pricing for each.

The best credit check tools for Canadian landlords

1. liv.rent

The Trust Score from liv.rent goes beyond credit checks to give a complete understanding of applicants’ suitability. As you can see from the chart above, liv.rent provides landlords & property managers with information that isn’t found on a traditional tenant credit check, all condensed into an easy-to-read score for filtering out unqualified applicants at a glance.

Individual landlords can choose between a variety of flexible pricing options. With a free Essentials Plan, you can add on a Trust Score report for just $16.99, or you can opt to enroll in liv.rent’s Growth Plan to receive 2 included Trust Score reports per month, plus a variety of other time-saving features like lease protection addendums and automated multi-platform advertising for up to 2 units.

This innovative tenant screening feature provides greater security for renters, as their Equifax® credit info and uploaded photo ID are only stored until their Trust Score has been calculated, at which point this data is securely deleted by the server.

Here is a sample Trust Score report:

How to unlock the Trust Score

The Trust Score is available even for tenants applying from outside of liv.rent. All landlords need is a verified profile to generate Trust Score reports – no liv.rent listing or tenant application is required.

Follow the steps below to unlock Trust Score reports for tenants applying both from within and outside of the liv.rent platform:

1. For liv.rent renters
   • Create a liv.rent listing
   • Ensure that both your ID and listing are verified
   • Once you receive an application from a renter whose Trust Score report you’d like to view, click “Unlock Trust Score”
   • Redeem a Tenant Screening Report credit or complete payment to unlock the full Trust Score report
2. For tenants outside of liv.rent
   • Sign up for a liv.rent Landlord account
   • Verify your ID
   • Navigate to the “Trust Score” tab on left-hand side of your Landlord Dashboard while logged in
   • Follow the prompts to submit the applicant’s information and complete payment

Note: Landlords generating a trust score on an applicant’s behalf must first obtain their written consent to perform a credit check. You can do this by downloading and completing this Tenant Consent Form.

How to read the Trust Score

The Trust Score is broken down into sections to give landlords a complete overview of prospective tenants’ reliability. For a quick guide on how to read and understand an applicant’s Trust Score report, you can watch this short how-to video.

Does the Trust Score impact the tenant’s credit score?

The Trust Score gathers information from renters’ Equifax® credit reports and will appear as an inquiry on their credit file. This will impact their overall credit score, however the impact will not be significant since the Trust Score is not an application for credit.

A new credit inquiry is conducted whenever a landlord unlocks a renter’s Trust Score. Multiple inquiries within a short period generally count as one credit check, so when renters apply for numerous listings they are unlikely to see multiple inquiries on their credit history.

2. SingleKey

SingleKey offers a simple platform that provides detailed reports using information from Equifax® credit checks. Where SingleKey sets itself apart is in its speed. The site advertises a less than five-minute processing time for a tenant credit check, which allows landlords to get the answers they’re looking for faster than getting it directly from a credit bureau.

However, this speed can’t compete with the instant response given by liv.rent through the Trust Score feature, which allows landlords to instantly view necessary renter information the moment they apply to a listing.

In terms of information, SingleKey offers a similarly comprehensive overview to other top options, combining an overall Tenant Score with a broken-down series of metrics that display the most pertinent information for landlords. The platform also gives users the ability to pay as you go, at a cost of $25 per report.

3. Naborly

Naborly is another popular option for screening tenants, also relying on Equifax® for the bulk of its information. Similar to liv.rent, Naborly provides landlords with a single score that factors in data like employment history, court records, and credit information to paint a picture of the applicant as an individual and as a tenant. Naborly also makes it easy to get approval for these checks with a built-in application process

Some landlords may also prefer the flexibility Naborly offers, as there is a flat rate of $25/check with no additional membership or subscription fees. It’s worth noting though that Naborly is intended to be used solely for tenant screening, and doesn’t offer the additional functionality provided by all-in-one rental platforms like liv.rent.

4. FrontLobby

FrontLobby is unique in that it allows landlords to report tenants’ rent payments to Equifax®, helping to establish renters’ reliability while giving fellow rental managers an additional metric to look at. Additionally, landlords can purchase add-on credit and background checks, at varying prices based on the plan chosen.

For the most part, these checks are standard credit reports, although the rent reporting feature and additional functionality FrontLobby offers make it an intriguing choice for some landlords. With that being said, these features are only available through the platform’s paid plans, which still require landlords to pay add-on fees for credit and background checks.

5. TransUnion SmartMove

TransUnion®’s SmartMove service is another popular option for Canadian landlords that distinguishes itself on its speed and ease of use. After registering, landlords can directly send a request for a credit check to tenants. Once they’ve completed their application, you can see the applicant’s information in minutes – including their credit check, criminal & eviction history, and income insights.

All this information is contained within their ResidentScore™ feature which will also help with quick decision-making. The $25 per report price point is standard compared to other options listed here, however it’s worth noting that this is for their SmartCheck Basic Report, which only includes applicants’ credit-based ResidentScore™ and a criminal background report. For a full credit report, landlords will need to pay $39.99 for SmartCheck Plus.

6. Equifax

Equifax® remains one of the most popular tenant credit check platforms in Canada since many landlords prefer to get reports from the bureau itself. This is a standard credit report and doesn’t contain much of the information found within some of the other options here that are designed specifically for landlords.

Still, Equifax® offers great flexibility in terms of pricing, as landlords can also opt to have tenants pull their own credit report, which can be free using a trial for the service. For the most complete information, Equifax® recommends using their Complete™ Premier plan, which costs $19.95/month.

What makes the Trust Score from liv.rent unique

The Trust Score enables Canadian landlords to find the right renters quickly and easily, going beyond a credit check to provide a complete picture of applicants’ suitability.

We’ve recently upgraded the Trust Score to include additional information, giving landlords & property managers even more tools to make important tenant screening decisions. Alongside these changes, we’ve implemented new, flexible pricing options to suit a variety of rental management needs – including the option to purchase add-on reports for just $16.99 each.

With any renters that apply to their listings, landlords will be able to see:

• The number of accounts checked to qualify their payment record
• Collections record
• Bankruptcy index
• Income-to-rent ratio
• Credit utilization
• Income & Employment verification documents
• A detailed risk assessment
• & much more

This score is immediately available to unlock & view for any applicants who have already completed their profile and been given a Trust Score, allowing you to evaluate renters faster.

Click here to learn more about how the Trust Score can help you find qualified renters and manage risk in your rental property.

FAQ: How to do a credit check on tenants

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The post How to do a credit check on a tenant appeared first on liv.rent blog.

Toronto Metropolitan University off-campus housing overview

Types of accommodation

In Toronto, you can generally find these kinds of accommodation for rent:

Many students opt to split a larger rental with roommates to cut down on costs as well.

Looking for a place to share

If you’re looking for a room in a shared space that’s perfect for students, then your first place to check should be liv.rent’s listings. You can use the map tool to find a place that’s close to campus and use the search filter “Room” under “Housing Type” to look at all the available places in the area.

Looking for a roommate

Off-campus students at Toronto Metropolitan University looking for roommates can post their available rooms for rent on liv.rent for free. Plus, the 100% digital platform means that you can connect with a roommate online.

Another great place to look for roommates is on liv.rent’s Greater Toronto Area Facebook Group. Here, you can connect with other TMU students seeking off-campus housing within a safe, moderated group.

Average rent in Toronto

Toronto is one of the most expensive cities in Canada. According to our latest Rent Report, the average cost of rent across the Greater Toronto Area was $2,239 for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit, and $2,209 for a furnished unit as of May 2024.

Of course, rent differs from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. The difference between a one-bedroom downtown and one in Brampton can be significant. That’s why liv.rent has broken down the GTA’s different municipalities to provide a more accurate look at rent in each area. See below for average rent prices as of May 2024. Toronto Metropolitan University students will be primarily concerned with rent prices in Downtown Toronto, since this is where the primary TMU campus is located – although it is possible to live in one of the neighbouring municipalities if you’re OK with a slightly longer commute.

Transit in Toronto

Getting a place as close to campus as possible is important because being a student is hard enough — tacking on a difficult commute can really wear you down over time.

When you’re looking for a place, be sure to keep public transportation options at the top of your wish list. Here are some transit tips for students looking for off-campus housing:

• Use liv.rent listings to see how far each unit is from which public transit options
• Look for apartments along the subway lines or near other forms of public transit
• Ask landlords what the neighbourhood’s public transportation options are like

Best neighbourhoods for renting near Toronto Metropolitan University

The Annex

Stretching from Dupont Street in the north to Bloor Street West in the south, and Bathurst Street in the west to Avenue Road in the west, The Annex is an incredibly desirable neighbourhood at the very heart of Toronto. Not just for students of the University of Toronto‘s nearby St. George campus, The Annex is a lively hub for students and professionals of all backgrounds – and a wonderful area for TMU students to call home. Anyone looking for a truly urban student experience would do well to start their search in this neighbourhood, as the Annex is home to some of Toronto’s best-known entertainment and dining destinations.

Types of accommodation in The Annex

The Annex is mostly known for embodying the classic style of Toronto architecture in its large “Annex style homes”. These typically multi-bedroom homes are great for students with roommates, or seeking shared accommodation near campus. There are also low-rise apartment buildings and newer homes within the neighbourhood’s boundaries.

Average rent in The Annex

• Studio apartment — $2,100
• One-bedroom apartment — $2,399
• Two-bedroom apartment — $3,247
• Three-bedroom apartment — $4,366

Source: Zumper

Transportation in The Annex

Estimated commute to campus: 10-15 minutes

Perhaps the most appealing quality of The Annex, especially for TMU students, is its ease of access to three Toronto metro stations: Spadina, Dupont, and Bathurst. Spadina will typically be your most direct route to campus, and will get you to class in around 15 minutes including a short walk from Finch Station. Miss the bus? Not to worry – it’s only a 15-20 minute walk from any corner of The Annex.

Amenities in The Annex

Bloor Street has everything students can want along a walkable strip within The Annex. Entertainment, dining, and boutique shops are all bunched together and make for a great place to decompress after a stressful exam, or get together with friends during your downtime.

Browse verified listings in The Annex

Garden District

Befitting the neighbourhood’s idyllic name, the Garden District is a beautiful neighbourhood filled with sprawling parks and its namesake Allan Gardens, an indoor botanical garden and conservatory which is the focal point of the area. The Garden District has always been a popular home for Toronto Metropolitan University students since the school is in the neighbourhood’s west side. Prices are typically higher as a result of this convenience and the neighbourhood’s stately feel, although the many offerings of the Garden District may make it a worthwhile place to pursue for renters.

Types of accommodation in Garden District

Condos are the norm for student renters in the Garden District, and there are a number of smaller and high-rise buildings with suitable homes for those attending TMU. These apartments are mostly on the newer side, with correspondingly high prices on average.

Average rent in Garden District

• Studio apartment — $2,000
• One-bedroom apartment — $2,400
• Two-bedroom apartment — $3,870
• Three-bedroom apartment — $5,000

Source: Zumper

Transportation in Garden District

Estimated commute to campus: 5 minutes

Since Toronto Metropolitan University’s campus is within the boundaries of the Garden District, students living here have no excuse for being late to class. Renters shouldn’t feel the need to bus to campus, as it’s only a 5-10 minute walk to school from just about anywhere in this neighbourhood.

Amenities in Garden District

Garden District is surrounded by all of Downtown Toronto’s best urban amenities, in addition to some of the city’s best parks and green spaces. Students can catch a show at nearby Massey Hall, go shopping at Eaton Centre Mall, or hop on the train and travel to just about anywhere in the city in no time.

Browse verified listings in the Garden District

Church and Wellesley

Church and Wellesley, also known as Church Wellesley Village or simply “The Village” among residents and locals, is home to the annual Pride Toronto celebrations and is one of the city’s foremost LGBT neighbourhoods. It is a diverse, welcoming area that’s home to residents from all walks of life, and is especially popular with Toronto Metropolitan university students looking for an eclectic home off-campus.

Types of accommodation in Church and Wellesley

Church and Wellesley primarily consists of condos in both low- and high-rise buildings, and is quite densely populated with lots of options for students seeking off-campus housing near Toronto Metropolitan University.

Average rent in Church and Wellesley

• Studio apartment — $1,998
• One-bedroom apartment — $2,619
• Two-bedroom apartment — $3,793
• Three-bedroom apartment — $4,875

Source: Zumper

Transportation in Church and Wellesley

Estimated commute to campus: 10-15 minutes

Just to the north of the TMU campus, Church and Wellesley is just a stone’s throw from Toronto Metropolitan University and is an excellent option for those seeking off-campus housing with an easy commute to campus. From Wellesley Station, you can expect about a 10-15 minute commute including walking time.

Amenities in Church and Wellesley

Although it feels like a vibrant residential neighbourhood by day, Church and Wellesley comes alive at night with all manner of entertainment and dining options for residents. During the day, there are plenty of trendy stores for shopping and lots of cafes and gathering spots for studying. Overall, renters would be hard-pressed to find a more inclusive neighbourhood, especially so close to campus.

Browse verified listings in Church and Wellesley

St. Lawrence

Rich in history and local flair, St. Lawrence is a family and student-friendly neighbourhood that’s known for being the centre of Old York, as well as housing the St. Lawrence Market and its hundreds of vendors. Once a primarily industrial area, it is now a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood that’s popular for its excellent location and the sheer variety of amenities it offers.

Types of accommodation in St. Lawrence

The centuries-old Victorian homes that once characterized St. Lawrence have now almost completely been replaced by newer developments, with many high-rise condo buildings in the lively neighbourhood.

Average rent in St. Lawrence

• Studio apartment — $2,200
• One-bedroom apartment — $2,350
• Two-bedroom apartment — $3,000
• Three-bedroom apartment — $3,800

Source: Zumper

Transportation in St. Lawrence

Estimated commute to campus: 15-25 minutes

It’s only a quick 15-20 minute commute to campus from St. Lawrence by bus and metro, or students can choose to walk from their home off-campus to Toronto Metropolitan University in just under 25 minutes.

Amenities in St. Lawrence

The St. Lawrence Market is your one-stop shop for everything – not just food! Here, you’ll find the very best local produce, artisan goods, local food vendors, and so much more.

Browse verified listings in St. Lawrence

Cabbagetown South

Cabbagetown is fast becoming one of Downtown Toronto’s most desirable up-and-coming areas for renters of all walks of life – from working professionals wishing to walk to work, to students who love its comparatively cheap rent prices and easy access. For Toronto Metropolitan University students in particular, Cabbagetown South is a dream for those seeking a relatively inexpensive home off-campus that’s just minutes from campus. Known as a historically working-class neighbourhood, Cabbagetown has blossomed into one of the city’s most convenient places to live located just east of the downtown core.

Types of accommodation in Cabbagetown South

Cabbagetown has become a hub for new development since the 1970s, and students will find a wide swathe of low- and high-rise condo buildings across the neighbourhood from varying eras of the area’s development.

Average rent in Cabbagetown South

• Studio apartment — $1,950
• One-bedroom apartment — $2,397
• Two-bedroom apartment — $3,890
• Three-bedroom apartment — $5,000

Source: Zumper

Transportation in Cabbagetown South

Estimated commute to campus: 10-20 minutes

Cabbagetown’s revitalization has made it one of the most convenient areas of town for getting just about anywhere. For Toronto Metropolitan University students living off-campus in the neighbourhood, it’s only about a five-minute commute to campus via the 505 bus, or you can opt to walk and it’ll only take about 15-20 minutes at most.

Amenities in Cabbagetown South

Aside from being just minutes from Toronto’s downtown core and shopping districts, Cabbagetown South is a renowned artists’ hub with all sorts of trendy restaurants, galleries, and venue spaces nearby.

Browse verified listings in Cabbagetown South

Renting tips: how to find & secure off-campus housing

How to avoid rental scams in Toronto

Rental scams are a danger every Toronto Metropolitan University student living off-campus should be aware of. These costly scams range from fake profiles, to ploys to steal personal information or cash deposits, and cost renters millions each year. The best way to protect yourself is by knowing your rights and choosing trusted rental platforms that manually verify both landlords and listings. Here are a few of the most common scams to look out for:

• Scam #1 Rent is too low
  If the rental rate seems shockingly below the rental average for the city, it could be a fake listing.
• Scam #2 Urgent cash demand
  Renters don’t have to pay for anything until a lease is signed. So, if someone’s pressuring you to send cash now, don’t do it.
• Scam #3 Too much info
  Until you’re 100% ready to move forward with a lease, you’re not obligated to share your bank account or SIN number.
• Scam #4 Not enough details
  While some smaller landlords may withhold unit numbers for privacy, you should know the exact address of the unit you’re looking at. without that info, it could be a scam.

Pro tip: rent from ID-verified landlords on liv.rent to avoid scams.

Be smart with your rental search

• Tip #1 Know your needs
  Make a list of your priorities – pricing, location, amenities, lease duration, pet policy, etc. Then, use liv.rent filters to narrow your search. 
• Tip #2 Do your research
  Find out the average rent in your target area. It’ll arm you with the necessary info to negotiate terms & rates.
• Tip #3 Google the property
  See if there are any complaints online regarding building management, maintenance, noise, neighbourhood, etc.
• Tip #4 Video tours first
  If possible, view video tours first. Then, narrow down your selection and book viewings only for places you’re seriously considering. 

Tips to improve your search

• Tip #1 Don’t be afraid to check
  Have the landlord to demonstrate that all appliances are working – run faucets, check thermostats, flush toilets, turn on stoves, etc. Also, check that cellphone reception is adequate & verify connectivity.
• Tip #2 View in daylight
  Viewing a home in daylight will give you a better sense of the living space.
• Tip #3 Prepare questions
  And ask the hard questions (e.g. how much interest have you had for this unit) to uncover info not in the listing.

Stand out when you apply for your rental

Completing your liv.rent profile, or renter’s resume, is the easiest way to stand out. You can also go the extra mile and pre-submit your application before your viewing if you’re pretty sure you want to rent the unit. By introducing yourself upfront, it shows that you’re serious about the unit – leaving a strong impression on your landlord.

Pro tip: on liv.rent, we use Trust Score to rate renters trustworthiness and credibility — it’s free for students to get theirs with their profile!

Another way to stand out is by using your renter’s story in your renter’s resume to give landlords more information about your credit score. As students may not have strong credit histories yet, use this space to provide more context to a landlord to help them trust you.

How to secure a rental before arriving in Canada

International students can find and rent their off-campus Toronto Metropolitan University home from abroad, before even setting foot in the country. When you sign up on liv.rent, as part of your profile you can select:

• “I don’t live in Canada.”
• and, “I’m a first-time renter.”

These profile options give landlords the full picture of you as a renter. It streamlines the rental process and makes it easy to understand why references or a previous Canadian address may appear to be “missing” from your application.

Watch the video below for a step-by-step guide to finding listings on liv.rent.

Toronto Metropolitan University off-campus housing resources

Here are some resources that can help you navigate off-campus housing at TMU:

• Learn how to protect yourself from rental scams
• See our top ten tips for renting an apartment in Toronto
• Everything you need to know about the Ontario Standard Lease
• Find out what a landlord is allowed to ask you as a renter
• See what $1800 can get you in Toronto’s different neighbourhoods
• Learn about credit scores and renting apartments
• Everything you need to know about evictions in Ontario

Use liv.rent to find your off-campus apartment for Toronto Metropolitan University — helping you save time, stay organized, and stay safe. Our trusted rental platform is perfect for students, no matter which campus you’re studying at.

Additional off-campus resources for students

• Toronto Metropolitan University Off-Campus Housing Service
• Toronto Metropolitan University Off-Campus Housing Resources
• Student Housing Toronto – UofT – Ryerson – OCAD Facebook Group

FAQ: Toronto Metropolitan University off-campus housing

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post The best off-campus housing at Toronto Metropolitan University appeared first on liv.rent blog.

Read on for our complete list of apps every landlord should have, or use the table of contents below to navigate to a specific section.

What are the best apps for landlords?

Renting out property has developed a reputation for being a tiresome, neverending job thanks to potentially troublesome tenants, constant upkeep, and making sure you’re getting paid on time. Thankfully, this has changed over time as more and more technologies evolve to free up landlords’ valuable time. The reality is that with the right tools, Canadian landlords can save themselves a ton of time and effort by automating essential duties like marketing, tenant screening, and contract signing.

Even better, all of these things can even be done while landlords are on the go as smartphones grow more sophisticated and mobile apps gain popularity. In fact, there are even some apps that do it all, in one place — which brings us to our first section. Read on for the best all-in-one landlord apps available in Canada.

All-in-one landlord apps

Today’s busy landlords need one app that does it all. Listing, marketing, screening tenants, signing lease agreements, and rent payments: these apps can support landlords through every step of the rental journey, albeit to varying degrees. Only one rental app truly lets landlords do everything, even while they’re on the go — and that’s liv.rent. Here’s the top five options for all-in-one rental apps and what each offers.

1. liv.rent

Unsurprisingly, our first pick on this list is liv.rent. In addition to being Canada’s safest rental platform with features like listing verification and the Trust Score, liv.rent allows landlords to post & share listings, screen tenants, sign digital contracts, and perform other rental management duties from anywhere with a handy mobile app. This all-in-one landlord productivity tool has just about everything landlords and property managers could ask for, and best of all — it offers a free Essentials plan for landlords. With a full 12 out of 12 features, liv.rent is truly the full package.

For landlords looking to further streamline their rental process and gain access to the same tools used by professional property managers, liv.rent’s new Growth plan is here to make renting even easier. The Growth plan is effectively an all-in-one property management software package, with all the tools you’ll need to digitize and streamline your rental process from start to finish. For just $48/month, this comprehensive plan includes:

• Unlimited lease protection addendums
• 2 Trust Score reports with credit check per month
• Automated rental advertising (2 per month)
• Shared management tools for up to 3 users

…plus everything in our Essentials plan.

2. Buildium

Buildium is another rental management software that’s available in Canada and offers landlords quite a few useful tools. Designed for property managers, this app is quite capable at handling day-to-day rental operations, but lacks some features that individual landlords might need, like instant chat and efficient, automated advertising.

3. Yardi Breeze

Another complete property management solution, Yardi Breeze is a Canadian platform with an assortment of solutions for busy landlords and property managers. Like Buildium though, Yardi Breeze lacks some features that individual landlords in particular will find useful. The per unit pricing structure may endear some landlords though, despite the platform lacking instant chat and automated advertising.

4. Total Management

Total Management is a web-based rental management service that bills itself as “the easiest property management software on the market”. Its simple interface and ease of use make it a good choice for beginning landlords or those who aren’t so tech-savvy, but it is missing a few key features — most notably the ability to add and customize lease addendums.

5. AppFolio

AppFolio is another popular option that also has 9 of the 12 features we’re ranking for here. Again, the platform is missing an easy, instant way to communicate with tenants, as well as lacking lease addendums and automated rental advertising. However, AppFolio does feature an intuitive, easy-to-use layout and contains some of the most important features landlords look for in their rental management apps, with a per unit pricing structure.

Landlord apps for productivity

Productivity apps are often associated with large-scale businesses trying to organize team members’ day-to-day tasks, but landlords can benefit greatly from them as well. With the seemingly endless to-do lists most landlords face on a daily basis, it can seem impossible to stay organized and accomplish everything on-time. Being able to visualize your tasks and collaborate with property managers, maintenance people and others on your team is key for stress-free renting, and these apps can help.

Of course, liv.rent is also a landlord productivity tool as well, with features like user management, income expense statements, rent payment reminders, and more — in addition to many of the features highlighted here. You can learn more about everything liv.rent offers landlords here.

1. Asana

Asana is a favourite of many workplaces across a variety of diverse industries, and for good reason. Though it’s designed more for enterprise than individual users, this productivity tool has a ton of functionality that can help landlords get and stay organized, like a customizable dashboard for visualizing the workday, prioritization tools, time tracking, and even a focus mode for when you really need to get something done.

2. Hive

Hive offers a similarly broad assortment of productivity features designed to simplify landlords’ busy days and make managing rentals easy and efficient. With 9 out of the 10 features we’re examining present here, Hive is another great option for organizing your day. The only feature it lacks is a dedicated focus mode, which probably won’t be a dealbreaker for many.

3. Todoist

Todoist is an excellent choice for individuals, particularly landlords since its simple interface and broad functionality lend themselves well to renting. Easy categorization tools allow landlords to input their personal tasks, work goals, and rental activity to keep track of every facet of day-to-day life. The only things Todoist lacks are a focus mode and time tracking, which shouldn’t be a huge loss for individual landlords.

4. Calendly

Especially for busy landlords managing multiple listings in addition to personal and work-related commitments, Calendly can come in handy to keep track of appointments and obligations. A hub for scheduling and keeping track of important meetings, landlords are able to easily build and visualize their days and weeks, while ensuring they never miss an inspection, key hand-off, or open house.

5. Evernote

Evernote takes note-taking to the next level with scheduling, task management, and more. For landlords looking to remember important things like renter information and rent payment deadlines, this convenient software is an excellent tool.

liv.rent pro-tip: Landlords can make private notes within their listings to remember key details about tenants, their applications, and other relevant information.

Landlord apps for listing & advertising

Of course, every landlord needs a place to list their units in order to capture leads and get their property rented as fast as possible. A large audience of renters is great, but with rental scams and professional tenants at an all-time high across the country, the quality of renters a platform attracts is far more important. Competition for units is steeper than ever, with landlords often receiving hundreds of applications in one day, so a landlord tool that helps easily filter applications, like liv.rent’s Trust Score is another helpful feature of a good listing platform.

The other key concerns landlords should have when choosing where to post their listings are the ease with which they can share their listings, and the marketing options available to them. While one platform is great, having the ability to post your listing on one platform and share it to other sites makes landlords’ lives much easier and ensures you’ll have a large pool of renters to choose from.

1. Zumper

Zumper is among Canada’s better-known listing platforms, with a variety of key features that can help speed up the application process. This popular site does have tenant screening and other tools like digital contracts and rent payments, but lacks some of the more in-depth rental management and productivity features of all-in-one tools like liv.rent.

2. Zillow

Zillow is best known as a real estate marketplace, but it does have support for rental units as well. Like other platforms on this list, Zillow has handy templates for creating appealing listings, including convenient neighbourhood map for all listings. Zillow has a number of convenient features for managing rentals as well, including rent payments and digital contracts, though again, it’s missing key marketing and organizational tools.

3. Kijiji

Kijiji is a popular marketplace site for buying and selling just about everything, from cars, to furniture, and whatever else you can imagine — and of course, it’s also used to post and rent property too. While it does do the minimum that’s required of it, Kijiji lacks more specialized features like rental applications, tenant screening, support for digital payments, and lease agreements.

4. Rentals.ca

Rentals.ca, as its name suggests, is another popular app for landlords to post and rent apartments, houses and condos. It offers a user-friendly layout and basic functionality like inquiries, listing pages, and some organizational tools — though it lacks any sort of rental management features. Despite this, Rentals.ca does allow landlords to post for free, and the site offers lots of ways to customize your listing and make it stand out, including a photo gallery and neighbourhood score.

5. Craigslist

Another popular marketplace site, Craigslist is still many landlords’ first stop when they need to post rental listings due to its pared-down appeal and ease of use. Though it may come out on top in terms of the number of listings available, the site lacks many of the security features landlords should look for in a rental platform, not to mention any sort of capability besides basic listing.

Landlord apps for tenant screening

Tenant screening is an integral part of the rental process, and has the potential to make or break a tenancy based on how diligent you were in filtering out applicants. Troublesome tenants can cause a number of problems to your unit, neighbours, and of course you, yourself, so the best way to eliminate this risk is to screen tenants thoroughly in advance.

The traditional way of doing this is by performing a credit check using one of Canada’s two major credit bureaus, but there also exist a number of tenant screening apps to help simplify this task and make the results easier to understand. Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the top tenant screening software for landlords.

1. SingleKey

SingleKey offers a simple platform that provides detailed reports using Equifax screening. Where SingleKey sets itself apart is in its speed. The site advertises a less than five-minute processing time for checks, which allows landlords to get the answers they’re looking for faster. However, this speed can’t compete with the instant response given by liv.rent through the Trust Score feature, which allows landlords to instantly view necessary renter information the moment they apply to a listing.

In terms of information, SingleKey offers a comprehensive look into tenants’ financial history, combining an overall Tenant Score with a broken down series of metrics that display the most pertinent information for landlords. The platform gives users the ability to pay-as-you-go rather than locking landlords into membership plans, at a rate of $25 per report.

2. Naborly

Naborly is another popular option for screening tenants that also relies on Equifax for the bulk of its information. Similar to liv.rent, Naborly provides landlords with a single score that factors in data like employment history, court records, and credit information. Naborly also makes it easy to get approval for these checks with a built-in application process.

Some landlords may also prefer the flexibility Naborly offers, as there is a flat rate of $25 per check with no additional membership or subscription fees. It’s worth noting though that Naborly is intended to be used solely for tenant screening, and doesn’t offer the additional functionality provided by all-in-one rental platforms like liv.rent. Still, it’s a suitable option for those looking for a straightforward way to obtain important background information on prospective tenants.

3. RentCheck

RentCheck is one of Canada’s first tenant screening services, and offers a fairly standard credit report, with the option to gather even more in-depth information for an additional cost. RentCheck’s reports offer landlords the ability to choose between Canada’s two major credit bureaus, with information like credit utilization, income-to-rent ratio, bankruptcy index, and more. The price is similar to what landlords would expect to pay for a report directly from a credit bureau, and there is also the option to purchase an annual plan for landlords who need to screen tenants more frequently.

4. TVS

TVS is a Canadian tenant screening service that provides basic information on applicants to landlords using reports from either of Canada’s two credit bureaus. Prices vary based on which of the two is opted for, and criminal records are extra. Still, TVS gives a good idea of tenants’ suitability with information like credit utilization, bankruptcy index, and previous addresses.

Landlord apps for contracts & document storage

Lease agreements are one of the most important parts of the rental process, codifying the tenancy and outlining rules to govern the rental period. For many landlords today, paper leases are a thing of the past, as digital contracts offer a more convenient way to send, sign & store leases on the go. The key features here are digital signing and secure storage, both of which help simplify landlords’ business and offer peace of mind knowing that their vital information is protected.

1. DocuSign

DocuSign is Canada’s #1 choice for digital signatures and cloud-based document security, thanks to a full 8 out of 8 features and a handy mobile app. This helpful landlord app ensures that your lease agreements are legally binding, and that you can easily create and keep track of your agreements with features like view receipts, an automated contract history, identity verification, and convenient customizable templates. For landlords, this platform even supports payments so you can arrange to receive rent right through the app.

2. Dropbox (and HelloSign)

Dropbox has long been a major player in secure, cloud-based document storage, but with the addition of HelloSign, a digital contract solution from the same company, landlords can get even more out of the platform. Now, you can create, send, sign and store your contracts and agreements within one platform, with a nearly complete suite of features to support your needs. This one-two punch is still missing support for rent payments though, so landlords will need to look elsewhere for that feature.

3. PandaDoc

Offering a similar array of features, PandaDoc is another option for landlords & property managers looking to create and sign documents on the go. The app still supports eSignatures with secure storage, customizable templates, and identity verification for added protection, but again — it’s limited to document signing, and lacks support for rent payments and other rental management functions.

Other helpful apps for landlords

These apps perform other functions landlords might find useful, and can go a long way to automating simple but time-consuming parts of your rental management operation.

RentZend

Whether you’re looking to purchase a property or are listing your unit for rent for the first time, it’s a good idea to figure out what you’ll need to charge for rent in order to break even and ideally make a profit — especially in the current climate with rising interest rates leading to larger mortgage payments for many homeowners. RentZend is a good option that includes a variety of factors, looking at tax records and estimated rent to give landlords a better picture of how their investment will perform over time.

Pro-tip: For a personalized estimate of how much your property rents for, liv.rent’s rental experts will examine your listing details, neighbourhood and market trends to give you an accurate sense of what to charge. Click below to start your free estimate.

TaskRabbit

Every landlord needs a handyman for the miscellaneous repairs that will inevitably arise for any rental property. If you don’t already have someone available, TaskRabbit is a popular place for landlords, renters, and practically everyone else to find people to help clean, move, repair, and just about anything else you can think of. You can search the platform for workers who are able to assist, and both booking and payments are conveniently processed through the app.

Zolo

Zolo is a popular real estate marketplace with listings across Canada and a variety of other insights. If you’re looking to purchase a property, whether it’s your first or fifth, Zolo is a great place to start your search and get a sense of where prices stand in the neighbourhoods you’re looking in.

Walk Score

Getting to know your neighbourhood is always a good idea before you go to rent out your property. Walkable amenities and transportation options are a big part of what attracts renters, so being able to speak to these things in your listing description can help attract renters. Enter Walk Score — an app designed to rank your property’s location based on how accessible it is by foot, looking at a unique walkability index to give renters a sense of what to expect from their new home.

Pro-tip: All liv.rent listings contain a handy map of the neighbourhood, including walkability to nearby transit options.

CMHC Mortgage Calculators

Mortgage rates are on every landlord’s mind right now as the Bank of Canada’s interest rates increase. If you’re concerned about what your variable-rate mortgage payments will look like, or if you’re thinking about purchasing another property, CMHC’s mortgage calculator app can help add some certainty to your payment rates, frequency and more.

How liv.rent helps landlords

liv.rent combines features from all of the different landlord app categories featured here, giving landlords and property managers a complete solution to your rental needs. This all-in-one platform helps you see more profits by giving you the tools to digitalize and automate your workflow from start to finish. liv.rent features intelligent productivity and management solutions for every step of the process, like the Trust Score – a comprehensive tenant screening metric that provides complete information, including Equifax® credit reports and income & identity verification for faster, more effective screening.

A productivity tool as well, liv.rent gives landlords the ability to save time and perform key rental functions on-the-go with a mobile app, including a full suite of marketing features like multi-platform listing syndication and insights into your listing’s price and performance. All this, in addition to all the features you’d expect from a rental management and listing platform, like automated rent collection, secure cloud-based document storage, digital contracts & addendums, and so much more.

If you’re ready to automate your rental process and make the switch to an easier, all-in-one rental management app solution – explore liv.rent’s affordable pricing plans for landlords and property managers here.

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post The 27 best landlord apps for easier renting appeared first on liv.rent blog.

Table of Contents

Why reducing vacancies is important

It goes without saying that a landlord’s first priority should be keeping their rental unit occupied as often as possible. An empty property not only means losing out on revenue, but opens up the unfortunate possibility of further expenses from unnoticed damage, theft, as well as additional taxes on empty homes in B.C. and Vancouver specifically. With tenants occupying a unit, you have someone you can hopefully count on to notice any potential risks like a water leak or fire before the damage gets out of control. While the odds of these events happening are slim even in vacant properties, it’s nice to have the peace of mind that comes with having renters you trust.

It isn’t always that easy, though. From posting your listing, to responding to inquiries, to screening and selecting tenants – finding high-quality renters is a lengthy and involved process. Combine this with a landlord’s already busy schedule and it’s not hard to see why so many rental properties sit empty from month to month. Luckily, there are rental platforms like liv.rent that allow landlords to market their listings and find quality tenants faster – all in one place.

Reasons your rental property is vacant

It’s not hard to see why a vacant rental property is such an important concern for landlords and property managers, but recognizing the exact reason why your unit is empty and remedying the situation is much harder. Whether your vacant unit is the result of inefficient marketing or high turnover due to poor tenant screening, there are countless reasons why renters might not be interested in your unit or leave unexpectedly.

Here, we’ll be breaking down some of the most common reasons why your rental property might be vacant and how liv.rent can help you solve each potential problem.

Problem #1 – Rent is too high

Perhaps the most obvious, yet most common reason for rental vacancies is that the unit is priced too high. It’s all too easy to overestimate the rental value of your unit, which practically ensures that otherwise interested renters pass over your listing in favour of something more within their budget.

liv.rent solution:

It’s important to be aware of how your unit’s rental price compares to similar properties in your area in order to stay competitive. Although you may have a certain number in mind, overvaluing your property can end up costing you more than simply lowering the monthly rent, even by $50 or $100.

Say you’re determined to get $2,000 a month for your unit, but renters don’t seem interested. Lowering the rent to $1,900 a month could help you fill the vacancy right away, and you’ll only be losing out on $1,200 per year of potential rental income, compared to $2,000 for every month your unit sits unoccupied.

To help landlords and property managers analyze and compare their rental prices against similar properties, each listing has its own unique dashboard containing valuable insights to help you refine your price and stay competitive. At a glance, view the average rent in your area, as well as how your listing compares. You’ll also find the number of views and applications your listing has received, another good indicator of how your listing is performing.

Problem #2 – Not reaching enough renters

Sometimes, even though you’re doing everything else right, your listing still isn’t getting the attention it deserves. Whether you’re using a rental platform that doesn’t have enough high-intent renters, or you’re not taking advantage of all of the sharing options at your disposal, the problem may just be that you haven’t found the right audience yet.

liv.rent solution:

The bigger your audience, the better your chances of getting your unit rented faster. Not only does liv.rent give landlords access to a larger pool of verified, high–intent renters, but the platform also allows for easy sharing to Craigslist, Kijiji, Facebook Marketplace, and more in just a few clicks.

From within your listing dashboard, simply click “Share” to export your listing, pre-formatted for your platform of choice. You can also copy and paste a link to your liv.rent listing that you can share on your own channels, or anywhere else you see fit. For a more detailed explanation of liv.rent’s listing syndication feature, check out the video below.

Problem #3 – Tenant screening that doesn’t work

High turnover due to poor quality tenants is another common cause of frequent rental vacancies. Whether a tenant chooses to end their term unexpectedly or you’re forced to evict them for violating the terms of the lease, having to replace renters at a moment’s notice is a situation no landlord or property manager wants to find themselves in.

liv.rent solution:

Being proactive about your tenant screening and ensuring you have a suitably robust process in place is key to avoiding troublesome tenants entirely. The Trust Score by liv.rent makes this easy, fast, and effective. This comprehensive scoring system analyzes and breaks down renters’ key information including Equifax® credit checks, income & employment verification, and more to give you a complete picture of their rental and financial history. This easy-to-understand metric lets you compare applicants with ease and eliminates the guesswork so you can find high-quality renters every time.

Problem #4 – Ineffective listings & marketing

A lot of work goes into creating, posting and sharing the perfect listing, and it can be hard to take the time out of your busy schedule to worry about marketing. If you’re not getting inquiries on your rental property though, it might be time to re-evaluate what information you’re sharing in your listings. There are a number of details that can make your listing more attractive to renters, and including plenty of photos and videos will also help you stand out.

liv.rent solution:

Creating eye-catching listings that generate more renter leads is easy with liv.rent. Pre-filled listing templates let you create the perfect listing ad in less time, and plenty of customizable fields ensure you don’t forget any key details tenants look for. Listings on liv.rent also have room for up to 20 of your most eye-catching photos, as well as Video Tours – including 3D Tours.

As an added step, be sure to verify your listings. Once you complete the verification process by either uploading property ownership documents or receiving & entering a verification code, your listing will appear with a checkmark icon next to it, indicating to renters that they can proceed with confidence.

Problem #5 – Expectations are too high

At the end of the day, there’s no such thing as the perfect renter. If you’re turning down applicants just because they don’t align with your vision of the ideal tenant or have one missing detail on an otherwise flawless rental resume, it might be time to ease your expectations a bit.

This certainly doesn’t mean settling for a renter you’re unsure about. Finding a tenant with a solid rental and financial history is key, but there is such a thing as being too picky when it comes to choosing who you’ll rent to. If an applicant doesn’t have a perfect credit history but has glowing references from all of their past landlords and has provided proof of income, consider asking them for more information and give them a chance to explain – especially if your unit has been vacant for some time.

liv.rent solution:

Using the Trust Score by liv.rent, landlords can go beyond financial information and gain a more complete sense of an applicant’s rental history, allowing you to make better-informed decisions when selecting tenants. Within the Trust Score, you can view employment and income verification documents, court records as well as a full credit check. By looking at renters’ complete information, you won’t miss out on what could be an excellent tenant just because they don’t have a perfect credit score.

How liv.rent fills vacancies faster

With the right rental platform on your side, preventing and filling vacant units doesn’t have to be hard, or even take much time. If you haven’t already, consider making the switch to liv.rent if you’re experiencing any of the problems described above.

Within this all-in-one rental platform, landlords can create attractive listings, share to Craigslist, Kijiji & Facebook Marketplace, screen prospective tenants with the Trust Score, and ultimately send & sign digital contracts and lease addendums. When all’s said and done, the best way to prevent vacancies is to be prepared with a solid plan for finding quality, long-term tenants.

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post 5 Reasons Your Rental Property Is Still Vacant appeared first on liv.rent blog.

Table of Contents

What do I ask a potential tenant?

Beyond knowing their basic information, there are important questions to ask during tenant screening that reveals more than what goes on their rental application.

Essentially, you want to know what they’re like, what they’re looking for, and why they’re moving. Knowing these three pieces of information will help you determine if you’re going to be a good fit together.

Pro tip: asking questions is a two-way street. You want your potential tenants to ask questions so that they feel confident that it’s a good fit for them too. You want a happy tenant! Otherwise, you’ll have to go through the whole process again soon.

There are three phases, or touchpoints, where you’ll want to ask questions:

1. Initial contact when they first reach out and have not applied yet.
2. At a showing when you meet them for the first time and they’re looking at the unit (either in-person or digitally.)
3. After they’ve applied but before they’ve signed the lease.

1. Questions to ask tenants before they apply

At this stage, you want to ask questions that will eliminate them from your pool of potential candidates as soon as possible if they’re not a good fit.

• What move-in date are you hoping for?
• How many people will be living in the suite?
• What do you do for work?
• The price of the unit is $X, does that fit your budget?

2. What to ask tenants at a showing

At this stage, you want to be conversational but through with the questions you ask to determine if they’re going to be a good fit for your unit, you want to ask some open-ended questions, get a sense of their personality, and see if they’ll be easy for you to communicate with.

• Why are you moving?
• Why did you move out of your last place/why are you leaving?
• How long have you lived at your current residence?
• Why are you moving into this area/What attracts you to this neighbourhood?
• How long have you been looking for a place?
• Have you looked at other nearby rentals?
• Do you have previous landlord references?
• If I need to do a credit check, does that work for you? (get consent for a credit check if you plan to perform one)

Pro tip: If they’re a student, be sure to ask how they will cover their rent — do they work part-time? do they have scholarships or bursaries? is their family providing financial assistance?

Questions to ask a tenant’s references

Before you offer them a lease, you’re going to want to check their previous landlord references if applicable.

• First, verify the address & personal info of the renter.
• How were they as a tenant?
• Did they pay rent on time consistently, any issues?
• Why are they moving?
• Did you have any issues with them regarding noise, safety concerns, or damage to the suite?
• Did any neighbouring units or buildings complain about the tenant at any point?
• Will you be returning their security deposit back to them in full or did you need to use some to fix the damage?

Pro tip: In some cases, like renting to first-time renters, students, or newcomers, they may not have previous landlord references. In these cases, you can ask for supplemental employment and financial documentation. Also, you can request employment or personal references.

3. Questions to ask tenants before they sign the lease

• Do you have a car/require parking?
• Do you smoke?
• Do you have (or plan to get) pets?
• Do you have any final questions or questions about the lease?

Pro tip: If your unit is in a strata building, give them a list of the strata rules and ask if they’re going to be able to follow those in addition to everything set out in the lease.

More about leases in Canada:

• Ontario Standard Lease Explained
• BC Residential Tenancy Agreement Explained

Professional property management tips from liv.rent

1. Use liv.rent as your rental hub and tell all your inquiries to apply through liv.rent before you schedule any viewings so that you’re left with a pool of quality, high-intent renters.

2. Leverage the Trust Score in your tenant screening process — combining data from social media, reported employment and income information, and an Equifax credit report, the Trust Score is an intelligent rating system to see a renter’s credibility at a glance.

3. Use a tool like the Landlord Dashboard to stay organized and keep all your rental documents in one place and easily compare applicants at the tail end of your tenant screening process.

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post 56 Questions Every Landlord Should Ask Applicants Before They Sign A Lease appeared first on liv.rent blog.

Good news: you’re in the right place!

Before we run away with all our features designed to make renter’s lives easier, know that you can use our platform based on your needs. So, whether you’re here to browse listings, pay for rent with bitcoin, or sign the lease on your next place, we can help!

Ready to join the future of renting? Use the table of contents to navigate and let’s get started:

Table of Contents

What is liv.rent?

liv.rent is more than just a marketplace to search for rentals. We’re a group of renters and landlords who knew there had to be a better way to rent.  

We found that the rental landscape was full of stress and scammers. It seemed like a never-ending battle to get the perfect home or find the perfect tenant. But we believe that finding a place to live should be safe and joyful.  

So, we created solutions for each step of the rental process to help everyone save time and energy. Now, we provide a better way to rent. One that leverages automation, AI, and integrated technology to make renting smooth and secure. 

From search and communication to contract signing and lease extension, every part of the rental process can be done online or in-app. Even though we’re based in Vancouver, B.C. — our community stretches from coast to coast in Canada.

We’re glad you’re here and we can’t wait for you to start a better rental journey with us. Find our app and start downloading it on your phone now while you read the rest of the guide.

1. Searching for rentals

Use liv.rent to search for your next home. You don’t even need to create an account to browse listings and if you want to set up your profile first, then you can “favourite” listings as you go.

How do you search on liv.rent?

There are three key ways to search for listings on liv.rent:

1. Search by city
2. Search by building or property management company
3. Browsing listings in “map” or “list” view

1. Search by city

Pick the city that you’re looking for a home in. Then, in addition to sorting by rental price with a sliding scale, you can adjust these filters to your search including:

2. Search by building or property management company

In the search bar, type in the building name to look for available rental units from that specific building. Likewise, if there’s a property management company or landlord you’re interested in, type in their name to see all the listings they manage.

Searching this way — by landlord or property manager pages, building pages, and building sub-pages — gives you hidden options most renters don’t know about. You can click on the map view and then click on the cluster to compare prices within the same building. Here’s a quick video that shows you how it’s done:

3. Browse by map or list

Watch now: liv.rent Basics – How To Search For Listings

2. Completing your liv.rent profile

Instead of filling out a new application every time you apply to a different listing, you can create a liv.rent profile (aka your renter’s resume) and use it to apply to multiple liv.rent listings.

For your security, only ID-verified landlords on liv.rent can view your renter’s resume — prevents scammers on other listing sites from accessing your personal information.

The following is a step-by-step breakdown of what you need to do to complete your liv.rent profile:

1. Filling out your renter’s resume
2. Giving only the necessary personal information
3. Increasing your chances to secure a place (for international or first time renters)
4. Knowing what a Trust Score is

1. Filling out your renter’s resume

Filling out your renter’s resume on liv.rent is simple and intuitive. Just follow the prompts, starting with basic info like your name, email address, and new password.

Pro tip: renters with complete profiles and verified IDs are 77% more likely to secure a rental and receive faster responses.

The entirety of the information in your profile will eventually be shared with a landlord after you apply to their listing, not before. Before that point, all your information is stored safely using a multilayered security approach.

Watch now: How To Fill Out Your Renter Profile

2. Giving only the necessary personal information

Your profile on liv.rent is used to apply for apartment listings. For this reason, we only request the minimum required information; this would be the same information that is necessary for a standard rental agreement.

Here’s a quick look at what information a landlord can legally ask you for:

For more details about our privacy and security, reference our FAQ section.

3. Increasing your chances to secure a place (for international or first time renters)

liv.rent is unique in that we can help people rent their first home in a new city before they even arrive. Select the “I do not live in Canada” option when completing your profile. Now, if a landlord sees your application, they have this information upfront.

It allows them to easily understand why you don’t have a Canadian address or lack previous references they can call.

There’s also the option to select “I’m a first-time renter.” This is great for international students and young people who are renting their first home. It also enables landlords to know why you lack previous landlord references and they’ll look for other ways to confirm your trustworthiness instead.

These two profile features, “I do not live in Canada” and “I’m a first-time renter”, help to streamline communication and offer you a better chance at obtaining a rental. Without them, landlords might browse an application, see that it’s “missing” previous references, and move on to the next application because they think yours is incomplete.

4. Knowing what a Trust Score is

An easy way to prove your trustworthiness as a renter to prospective landlords is by using our intelligent Trust Score rating system. Combining data from an Equifax credit report as well as our own AI algorithm, it’s a score out of 100 that helps position you as an ideal tenant.

Here’s a quick explanation by our Client Success Specialist Apoorva Ashok:

Watch now: How To Understand Your Trust Score

3. Connecting to landlords

Landlords and renters can connect and chat about listings, rental preferences, and tenancy details all on liv.rent in our chat feature. This chat becomes a timeline of communication between you and a prospective landlord.

Chat timeline

Your entire chat history is saved and accessible both online and in our app. Use the chat timeline to:

• Inquire about a listing
• Send in your application
• Receive a contract from a landlord
• Send your signed version of the digital lease back to your landlord
• Receive payment requests
• Review credit card or bitcoin payment receipts

Having all the correspondence and documentation in place is helpful for everyone to stay organized and protect themselves while renting. There are also translation features available to streamline communication further.

4. Submitting applications

Like we mentioned earlier, applying on liv.rent is easy because your renter’s resume (i.e. your profile) becomes an application with just a few clicks. Watch our Account Executive Jackie Wong walk you through the process:

Watch now: How To Search & Apply For Listings

One renter resume, multiple applications

This is the feature that puts liv.rent heads and shoulders above other listings sites: use your renter resume to apply to multiple listings. When you find a listing you love:

1. Click on “Apply Now.”
2. Pick your preferred move-in date.
3. Review your renter’s resume.
4. Accept the terms and conditions.
5. Click “Submit.”

Repeat this process again for any other listings you want to apply for. It’s easy, paperless, and gives you much more flexibility.

5. Signing & renewing leases

You can review, sign, send, and renew leases for rental agreements in B.C. and Ontario on the liv.rent platform.

• Ontario Standard Lease Explained
• BC Residential Tenancy Agreement Explained

Digital contracts

Because paper leases are onerous and wasteful, at liv.rent we do digital contracts instead. Easy to read, sign, and send either online or in-app — they save you time and get you the keys to your next place faster.

Custom addendums

While liv.rent provides the basic lease to your landlord, they may choose to add their own custom addendums. When reviewing the terms of your lease, pay extra attention to these portions.

Lease extensions

As a renter, pay attention to what the lease says will happen after the lease ends. In B.C. and Ontario, after a basic lease “expires,” it’s transitioned into a month-to-month rental agreement — unless a landlord has added something to the lease about vacating.

When the lease term is up, you and your landlord may decide to sign another lease. However, you are not required to do so.

6. Paying rent

Gone are the days of paper cheques and e-transfers. You can pay for rent on liv.rent with your credit card (Visa, Master Card, AMEX), Union Pay, and even by Bitcoin.

Note: if your landlord isn’t on liv.rent but you want to pay with your credit card, Union Pay, or Bitcoin — let us know and we can help onboard your landlord to help you pay for rent easier.

First, your landlord will send you a payment request through the liv.rent app. Then, you can easily pay via whichever method you choose. You will also receive payment reminders that you can turn on or off in your profile settings after your rental contract is active.

Watch now: How To Pay For Rent With Bitcoin

More help for renters

Thanks for checking in on our liv.rent guide for renters. We hope you now have a better understanding of how to take advantage of our platform to streamline your entire rental process from start to finish. Next, let’s keep the conversation going!

• Subscribe to liv.rent updates to be the first to learn about new rental market data, platform features, and more.
• Reach out for help finding listings with our team.
• Explore our resource blog for even more tips and tools for everyone navigating the rental landscape.

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post The Ultimate Renter’s Guide To Using liv.rent appeared first on liv.rent blog.

You can subscribe and get the latest updates on the Toronto rental market straight to your inbox.

This is part one of our upcoming four-part series on applying for rentals in Ontario.

In this FAQ article, we’re answering some of the most common questions renters and first-time renters have about renting in Ontario. Let’s get started now!

What is a standard rental application?

A standard rental application is an information sheet that landlords give to applicants to fill out. The applicant will then need to add their relevant information and return it to the landlord if they want to be considered for the suite.

The application is an overview of the suite. It’s also where a renter will share information about their identity, rental history, employment, and work history. They will also give consent to a credit check via this document, which a landlord can run to verify credit history.

Pro tip: for a smoother rental application process, just use liv.rent — once your application is approved, it gets automatically converted into a contract.

Learn more:

• Ontario Standard Lease Explained

Why would you get denied for an apartment?

There are a number of reasons why someone might have their rental application turned down, here’s a summary of a few of the key reasons:

1. Application data
   • If the application was incorrectly filled out or was missing key information.
2. Income
   • If the income appears to be too low to be able to comfortably afford to pay rent consistently. Note: Landlords are looking to see that you can pay no more than 1/3 of your monthly income on rent.
3. References
   • If references were missing, unreachable, or did not provide good information.
4. Credit
   • If the applicant didn’t provide details to run a credit check or had an unimpressive credit score.
5. Preferences
   • If the applicant indicated that they had pets or were a smoker, and the unit expressly does not allow either.

Pro tip: increase the chances of your application being accepted by filling in the necessary information on liv.rent’s online application form.

Learn more:

• Trust Score vs. Other Credit Scoring Systems

Does getting denied for an apartment hurt your credit?

No, getting denied for an apartment doesn’t hurt your credit. Each credit check that a potential landlord runs may have an impact on your credit score, however.

Learn more:

• What Kind Of Credit Score Do You Need To Rent An Apartment?

Why would you get approved for an apartment?

Landlords are looking for tenants who have good references, good credit, who are financially stable, and who they can trust to take care of their rental unit as if it were their own.

Getting approved for an apartment is usually the result of demonstrating that trustworthiness and reliability through your application.

Learn more:

• What credit score do landlords want?

What credit score is needed to rent an apartment in 2024?

It’s up to each landlord to interpret credit scores and reports. Generally speaking, the ranking of scores looks like this:

• Under 580 — Poor 
• 580 to 669 — Fair 
• 670 to 739 — Good 
• 740 to 799 — Very Good 
• 800+ — Excellent

On liv.rent, we use the Trust Score as a rating system to determine and communicate a renter’s credibility. It’s more comprehensive than a credit check alone, encompassing social proof and income verification, and it’s a convenient way for renters to showcase their suitability.

Learn more:

• The Trust Score Explained
• Improving Your Trust Score

Do apartments do a hard credit check?

It depends. Landlords can perform hard, soft, or no credit checks as part of their tenant screening process.

Before you submit an application, you can ask a landlord what their credit checking process is. You can always state that you would prefer a soft vs. a hard credit check and ultimately it’s up to the landlord to determine what’s best for them.

Can I rent an apartment with a low credit score?

Yes, you can rent an apartment with a low credit score. However, to successfully rent a suite by improving your credit or by providing supplemental information on your income and financial history. Otherwise, it may be more difficult for you to secure the apartment over other applicants with stronger credit.

While a credit score is an important metric, it does not tell the whole story of who you are as a renter. That’s why on liv.rent, we use the more comprehensive rating system, Trust Score, and we also give renters more opportunities to posit themselves as an ideal candidate.

Do apartments check Equifax or TransUnion?

It’s up to each individual landlord which credit service they use, most typically they will use either Equifax or TransUnion.

How do you know if your rental application is denied?

Landlords do not have to inform you if your application has not been accepted.

It’s a good idea to check in again with them a few days after handing in your application — if they are doing their own credit check, that can take a day or two to come in as well.

Learn more:

• How To: Apply To Multiple Listings With One Renter Resume

Will I pass a credit check for renting?

Credit checks don’t have a pass or fail system. Ratings typically range from poor to excellent and are a signed a numbered score.

The best way to prepare for a credit check by a landlord is to get one for yourself. In Canada, you’re entitled to get a free copy of your credit report from Equifax and TransUnion. Knowing your own credit history is a good way to prepare for a rental application, especially if it’s your first time.

How do you know if you will get approved for an apartment?

Potential tenants will know that they have been approved because landlords reach successful applications by offering them the suite and inviting them to sign a standard lease agreement, thus beginning a tenancy.

Search for listings now:

• Apartments for rent in Toronto

Should I put my bank account number on a rental application?

Generally speaking, you do not have to put your bank account number on a rental application. In Canada, there are privacy laws in place that mean landlords can’t ask for a tenant’s banking information until both of you are ready to go forward with a lease.

At that point, you’ll need to pay rent somehow and often that’s by post-dated cheque or direct deposit, so your landlord will have some of your banking information at that stage.

Pro tip: on liv.rent, there are lots of convenient ways to pay for your rent.

Learn more:

• How to Pay Rent to your Landlord
• How To Pay For Rent With Bitcoin On liv.rent

Do landlords check your bank account balance?

Generally, landlords do not check your bank account balance. Mostly, they want to verify your credit to see that there are no red flags.

They also want to verify your income and employment, to know that you have money coming in and you’ll be able to afford to pay your rent on time. And even if you do provide cheques to your landlord, your bank will not disclose your balance to them.

There are two cases where it’s more common for a landlord to request to see your bank account balance:

1. You are a student with no income
2. You are a newcomer to Canada and you have not secured employment yet

In these cases, they want to make sure that you have enough savings, funding, or support from your family to be able to afford to pay rent consistently.

Learn more:

• Best Cities to Study in Canada for International Students
• Top 5 Rental Areas For Students | International Student Housing
• International Student Guide: Homestay vs. Renting Alone

How do I fill out a rental application with no rental history?

First-time renters might feel like they’re leaving chunks of their rental applications unfilled. Often, landlords like to see a rental history and be able to check or confirm with references that you’re reliable.

If you do not have a rental history, there are other ways to prove your reliability and trustworthiness as a renter.

On liv.rent, you can fill out your robust renter’s resume and we have an option to select “I am a first-time renter.” This shows the landlord right away why you do not have references and creates better communication and transparency.

Sign up now and get your renter’s resume application-ready.

What can a landlord not ask you?

There are things that landlords are allowed to ask you as part of your application process and things that are inappropriate for them to ask you.

Be informed of Ontario’s rules and guidelines on your rights and privacy before you share information with any landlord.

In general, landlords are allowed to confirm your identity, like with a government-issued ID. They cannot ask you personal questions about your race, nationality, gender identity or sexual orientation.

They also can’t ask you for money outside the scope of your lease, access to your suite without due notice, and can’t force you to sign a new fixed-term lease once yours is up.

Pro tip: when you use your liv.rent profile, called a renter’s resume, to apply for listings — you can choose to only share your information with verified landlords.

Learn more:

• What Information Is A Landlord Allowed to Ask For?

How do you make your rental application stand out?

Being well organized with your credit score already run and your references primed and ready to check will really set you apart in a sea of applications.

On liv.rent, you can also upload a photo of yourself ad fill out your “renter’s story,” which is a brief description of you as a renter. By proving this information and verifying your account, the landlord has more reason to trust you and could favour your application over one that doesn’t have this additional context.

Does the Trust Score impact the tenant’s credit score?

The Trust Score gathers information from renters’ Equifax® credit reports and will appear as an inquiry on their credit file. This may impact their overall credit score, however the impact will not be significant as the Trust Score is not a credit application and will not appear as a ‘hard’ credit inquiry.

Renting in Ontario

For information on renting in Ontario, refer to these resource posts about leases and evictions.

• Ontario Standard Lease Explained
• Frequently Asked Questions: Everything You Need to Know About Eviction in Ontario
• Renting: Changes During COVID-19
• PIPEDA: Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post Applying For A Rental In Ontario Part 1: What’s A Standard Rental Application? appeared first on liv.rent blog.

1. Complete your profile

The most important first step towards success on liv.rent is to fill in all your personal information and ensure that your profile is 100% complete. As Canada’s safest rental platform, liv.rent is built upon mutual trust & transparency and as such, landlords must provide as much detail as they can about themselves and their rental property.

To establish trust with prospective renters, landlords should complete the following actions:

1. Upload a profile picture
2. Fill out all the fields in their profile
3. Write a short bio

2. Get verified

Once your profile is complete, the next step for landlords is to verify their identity.

This is a fairly straightforward process and once complete, will result in a Verified badge next to your name on your user profile. This badge signals to renters that your identity has been manually confirmed by the liv.rent team, alerting them that you are who you say you are.

Getting verified on liv.rent is easy and only takes a few minutes of your time. Before you get started, make sure you have a piece of government-issued photo ID handy. This can be a driver’s license, passport, or citizenship/permanent residence card.

Once you’re ready, please follow these steps to get your identity verified:

1. Go to your profile and click “Edit”. Scroll to the “Verify Your Identity” section
2. Upload a picture of your government-issued photo ID (driver’s license, passport, etc.)
3. Next, you’ll be prompted to take a live selfie
4.  If the name & photo on your ID match your profile and uploaded selfie, you will receive your verification badge

PRO-TIP: All published listings with unverified profiles are hidden within a week, so make sure you verify your profile!

You can find a detailed guide to liv.rent’s verification processes, including how to verify your business license (if applicable) in a detailed post here.

How does liv.rent protect my data?

Your government-issued ID and any authentication information requested during liv.rent’s verification process will be automatically securely removed from our system once your profile has been verified. This ensures that none of your data will be made public at any point.

3. Research rent prices

Did you know that liv.rent creates monthly Rent Reports for major rental markets across Canada? We currently publish reports for Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary & Edmonton with detailed breakdowns of average rent prices in each area.

Before creating your listing, it’s a good idea for landlords to look at the latest Rent Report for their area to gauge current asking prices. Pricing your listing in line with market trends ensures that you get plenty of inquiries without losing out on potential profit from pricing your unit too low.

Tips for a successful listing

1. Share your listing

The easiest way for landlords to get their listing rented faster is by taking advantage of liv.rent’s built-in sharing feature.

From your Listing Dashboard on the left-hand side of your screen, simply click “Share” and you’ll see options for sharing to various platforms. From there, simply select the platform you’d like to share it to and follow the instructions to quickly and easily share your listing to Craigslist, Kijiji, and Facebook Marketplace.

2. Make liv.rent your rental hub

Once your listing has been created and shared, we recommend treating liv.rent as your rental “hub” where you can direct interested renters to apply. When you share a listing to other platforms, the template will contain a link to your liv.rent listing where tenants can submit their applications directly, thus saving you from sorting through different inboxes for important messages.

On liv.rent, you can chat with tenants directly, receive applications, screen tenants with the Trust Score, sign digital contracts, process rent payments, and much more. Combined with liv.rent’s verification features for renters, this strategy ensures a smooth and safe rental process from start to finish.

3. Screen tenants with the Trust Score

One of liv.rent’s most powerful tools for landlords is the Trust Score – our built-in tenant screening tool. This comprehensive report goes beyond credit checks to give a complete picture of applicants’ rental and financial history, allowing you to find the right renters faster, without the guesswork.

Using Equifax® credit information and verification documents, the Trust Score generates a score out of 100 for applicant profiles, with a detailed report available to unlock through add-on credits. The report is broken down into four main sections: Credit Summary, Risk Assessment, Trustworthiness, and Income-to-Rent Ratio. Landlords can use these metrics to evaluate renters and shortlist

When tenants apply to their listings, landlords can purchase individual Trust Score reports for $16.99 per report, or upgrade to either the Growth our Business plan to automatically unlock included reports each month.

How to unlock the Trust Score

The Trust Score is available even for tenants applying from outside of liv.rent. All landlords need is a verified profile to generate Trust Score reports – no liv.rent listing or tenant application is required.

Follow the steps below to unlock Trust Score reports for tenants applying both from within and outside of the liv.rent platform:

1. For liv.rent renters
   • Create a liv.rent listing
   • Ensure that both your ID and listing are verified
   • Once you receive an application from a renter whose Trust Score report you’d like to view, click “Unlock Trust Score”
   • Redeem a Tenant Screening Report credit or complete payment to unlock the full Trust Score report
2. For tenants outside of liv.rent
   • Sign up for a liv.rent Landlord account
   • Verify your ID
   • Navigate to the “Trust Score” tab on left-hand side of your Landlord Dashboard while logged in
   • Follow the prompts to submit the applicant’s information and complete payment

Watch the video below for a step-by-step guide on how to unlock the Trust Score for tenants not on liv.rent

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post liv.rent Quick Start Guide: 3 keys to listing & renting efficiently appeared first on liv.rent blog.

What is a Trust Score?

The new & improved Trust Score is an intelligent rating system designed to establish a renter’s reliability and credibility when applying for places on the liv.rent platform. For landlords, it is a crucial tool for screening tenants efficiently. For renters, it’s a key part of the Renter Resume to help rental applications stand out among other renters. Using AI and a powerful algorithm that corroborates submitted tenant information, the Trust Score gives landlords a more secure and accurate measure of a prospective tenant’s suitability, thus expediting their selection process.

“liv.rent has helped us assess applicants more easily thanks to the Trust Score. We really appreciate the general overview of the tenants.”

W Brothers | Vancouver Property Managers

How to unlock the Trust Score

The Trust Score is available even for tenants applying from outside of liv.rent. All landlords need is a verified profile to generate Trust Score reports – no liv.rent listing or tenant application is required.

Follow the steps below to unlock Trust Score reports for tenants applying both from within and outside of the liv.rent platform:

1. For liv.rent renters
   • Create a liv.rent listing
   • Ensure that both your ID and listing are verified
   • Once you receive an application from a renter whose Trust Score report you’d like to view, click “Unlock Trust Score”
   • Redeem a Tenant Screening Report credit or complete payment to unlock the full Trust Score report
2. For tenants outside of liv.rent
   • Sign up for a liv.rent Landlord account
   • Verify your ID
   • Navigate to the “Trust Score” tab on left-hand side of your Landlord Dashboard while logged in
   • Follow the prompts to submit the applicant’s information and complete payment

Note: Landlords generating a trust score on an applicant’s behalf must first obtain their written consent to perform a credit check. You can do this by downloading and completing this Tenant Consent Form.

Why landlords prefer the Trust Score

Many landlords are familiar with the credit rating scores provided by more traditional credit reporting agencies. These agencies employ a sliding scale between 300 and 900 to convey credit scores – the numerical representation of a tenant’s credit risk. While the Trust Score scale ranges between 1-100.

Keep in mind too, that there is typically a cost related to running a credit report. If you were to hire a service to conduct the credit check (Equifax® or TransUnion), it would cost you on average $25 per applicant. Click here to see a sample credit report. 

For many landlords, this information may seem extremely overwhelming. That’s why we’ve created the Trust Score – for landlords to access a free and easy-to-understand report outlining the necessary information of prospective tenants.

Here are some other reasons why you should leverage the Trust Score when selecting your next tenant:

1. Complete candidate overview

The Trust Score gives you a complete overview of potential tenants in one place. Typically, you would have to pay for a number of different verification processes to gain the same comprehensive picture of the candidate. The Trust Score summarizes the following verification processes:

2. Easy to understand

Our clean and simple Trust Score feature displays all the information required to determine whether a candidate is a reliable and suitable tenant. You can compare prospective tenants simply and easily by using the assigned Trust Score rating. The Trust Score summarizes tenant profiles into 4 rating: Excellent, Very Good, Average and Poor to provide landlords with a pared-down, easy-to-understand format with which to gauge a renter’s suitability.

What does the Trust Score rating mean?

For landlords’ convenience and ease of use, the Trust Score is broken down into four categories: Credit, Trustworthiness, Income-to-Rent Ratio, and Court Record Verification. These simple components provide a comprehensive overview of a renter’s suitability, and information is presented clearly and concisely using a Poor to Excellent scale.

The overall score and rating make it easy for landlords to screen tenants quickly and easily, before clicking to view a complete breakdown of their history. Compare applications at a glance using a simple 0-100 scale, with liv.rent’s ratings and advice clearly visible at a glance.

See the full breakdown of our scoring/rating system below, including how the Trust Score compares to other credit score ratings, and learn more about the Trust Score and how tenants can improve their rating here. 

3. Verified Information & Documents

When a tenant completes their profile on liv.rent, they provide supporting documents that are verified by the liv.rent compliance team so you don’t have to spend your time validating tenants’ employment records and income statements.

4. Quick & Easy Sharing

Our purposefully-designed Trust Score feature allows property managers to easily share tenant applications, complete with Trust Score, with landlords/owners. Simply save as .pdf and share effortlessly. In addition, all of your applications are already stored in one place so you have quick and easy access to them when conducting a viewing. No more filing through stacks of paperwork to find an applicant’s information!

5. Flexible pricing

Upon signing up for the Business plan, you’ll gain access to 15 Trust Score reports per month including Equifax® credit checks for all potential applicants in addition to all the other exclusive liv.rent features, like:

  Support for up to 10 Users 

  Extensive Marketing Suite (including Custom Website)

  Unlimited Automated Rent Collection

  Custom Contract & Addendums 

As with all of our plans, the Business plan has no restrictions on the number of units you can list on the platform. You will also have your own customized, SEO-optimized company website displaying your business’ branding and all of your available listings. This makes it easy for tenants to simply select whichever listings they like from your page and send applications to all of them with the simple touch of the ‘apply’ button.

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Subscribe to receive the latest tenant & landlord tips and get notified about changes in the Canadian rental market.

>> Stay up-to-date on the average rent in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal: Rent Reports.

The post 5 Reasons Landlords Should Leverage the Trust Score appeared first on liv.rent blog.

Our Spotlight Series highlights the experiences of Metro Vancouver property managers and tenants. Each post explores their property management approach and challenges and, more specifically, how they are using and benefitting from the liv.rent platform.

Soul Homes

Soul Homes is a Vancouver-based full service property management company active in the Lower Mainland.

Soul Homes founders, the Toosi brothers, learned the value of good tenants and property management the hard way, by losing money on rent and damages on one of their own properties.  This led them to leverage their many years of business and customer service experience to launch Soul Homes dedicated to serving and protecting the landlords of Vancouver.

They’ve recently started using liv.rent to help manage their properties and are excited by the simplicity and functionality available in the app and in the web version.

Tell us about your property management experience.

We are professionally licensed property managers in business since 2014 committed to saving our clients’ valuable time, and granting them a peace of mind.

How many properties do you have or manage?

We have managed over 400 residential properties in Vancouver and the North Shore since our inception.

Do you manage properties alone or have a team?

Our entire team are property managers and we work as a team.

What are your biggest headaches in being a landlord?

For us the first challenge is always finding the right tenant – one that will treat the property with respect. Preparing the unit for a new tenant is also a sizeable task as we pay close attention to ensure it is meticulously cleaned and everything is in top working order.

We also take Move in/Move out inspections very seriously to protect landlords and tenants both.

How do you choose good tenants? What specific sections in the application do you look at to screen potential tenants?

First and foremost, we look for an income that can support the rent. Then we look at trustworthiness which we determine based on the applicants work history, landlord references etc. This helps us with the selection process.

A completed liv.rent tenant profile provides landlords with all the information needed to determine tenant suitability as an applicant. It is an intelligent rating system that uses a powerful algorithm to corroborate applicant information with LinkedIn and financial records to establish a tenant’s reliability and credibility providing landlords a secure and accurate measure of applicant integrity simplifying their selection process.  For further details, see our post “Trust Score Explained“.

How has liv.rent addressed some of your pain points/made your life easier? What are your favourite features?

Liv.rent is everything we could have asked for. We particularly like how nicely it integrates with other platforms; we can share our listings easily to  Kijiji, Craigslist, Facebook etc.  This ability to cross promote is a great marketing tool for us.  You’ve really thought of everything we need to do our jobs well!

Do you ever reach out to your “Suggested Tenants” through the app encouraging them to apply?

Yes we have reached out to “suggested tenants” to encourage them to apply to certain listings of ours.

(Check out our post: What are Suggested Tenants?)

Do you prioritize applicants who have 100% complete profiles?

Yes, of course. We believe a complete profile is indicative of a conscientious tenant.

What are some of your favourite listings on Liv.rent?

We have quite a few! Check these out.

Enjoy the best of downtown living in this 1 bed, 1 bath contemporary home, centrally located Downtown and walking distance to Yaletown, Crosstown, BC Place and Rogers Arena. Floor to ceiling windows and a charming balcony provide spectacular views of Burrard inlet and the North Shore Mountains (feature image at top of post is from this listing).

This bright, centrally located 2 bed, 2 bath downtown home is walking distance to everything including Rogers Arena, Yaletown, Robson Street, Costco etc. Features include hardwood floors, modern, integrated appliances, balcony, thoughtful layout and breathtaking views.

Sign up for liv.rent and inquire with Soul Homes today by clicking through any of the links above!

Check out our post on New Landlord Web Features and learn how easy it is to manage your properties, applications and agreements on line, or in the liv.rent app!

Show your clients our new map search feature explained in our latest post, Introducing Search by Map. 

Haven’t tried liv.rent yet? Try your hand managing properties using liv.rent, click here to sign up now!

Download the liv.rent app – available in the  App Store and the  Google Play Store.

The post Property Manager Spotlight – Soul Homes appeared first on liv.rent blog.