Step 2: Get your paperwork in order

To attract a good tenant, you will need to be a professional landlord and have the right paperwork on hand. Contact your local residential housing branch of your government or go online and do a search for landlord forms to find the following:

• Tenant application forms
• Rental/Lease Agreement forms
• Eviction notices or other forms you might need later - sometimes you have to order the forms so it's better to just have them on hand.

Each provincial government has different requirements and rules for what must and what can be in each of the above documents so be careful what you download. Ensure you've got documents that are legal in the same province as your rental unit.

Step 3: Research the rent rates and place your ad

Make sure the Price is Right!
Research like units online to make sure you're not asking too much for your unit. We check Rentometer for a ballpark range and then research in detail on Craigslist and Viewit to understand what the competition has their units priced at.

Don't get too greedy - it's better to price just below the market. You will rent your unit faster, have a larger tenant base to pick from, and you will have a better chance of retaining a tenant for a longer period of time. When you find yourself thinking "but I could make $50/month more easily!", counter that thought with "but it will cost me even more if this unit goes vacant for a month or if I have to re-paint or fix up this unit in 12 months when the current tenant leaves in search of a better deal". I'm not saying leave a stack of money on the table, I am just saying, that it's better to be slightly below market and have a great tenant in there quickly then to get a few more dollars every month.

Get the word out! We've found tenants through all of these methods:

• Word of mouth - we email all of our friends and let them know we've got space for rent. As a result, we have rented several units out to friends over the years. We also let our good tenants know about other units that are available and sometimes they move into the units and we keep them as tenants for longer, or they have friends they can recommend to us.
• Advertise online! We love the viewit.ca and craigslist combination in Toronto. Viewit.ca takes pictures of your rentals. You can place a free ad in Craigslist with a link to the Viewit.ca ad so your prospective tenants can see the unit.
• Craigslist on its own is also very effective and it's free!
• Put a sign up on your lawn or in the window of the unit with a phone number. Viewit gives you a sign to put up which is another benefit of advertising with them.
• Local Newspapers can be a fairly inexpensive way to advertise. Ask the classifieds agent what is the best day to advertise a rental unit on to get the most eyeballs seeing your ad. We don't advertise in the paper anymore as we find online to be very effective, but in some areas your target renters may be best reached by the paper.
• University Housing Boards: We haven't done this for awhile, but we have a tri-plex near the University of Toronto, and we used to advertise there. These days every university student seems to use Craigslist.

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