Analysis of Tenant Selection Criteria in an Emerging Rental Market

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate tenant selection criteria adopted by the registered real estate firms and the relationship between the criteria and the firms' years of experience in property management practice, core areas of professional practice and size of the firms with a view to determining the important criteria required of prospective tenant(s) to secure a rental apartment in the developing property market of Metropolitan Ibadan.The study adopts a questionnaire survey. The instruments (Tenant Assessment Checklists) were administered on a sample of estate surveying and valuation firms (registered real estate firms). Data collected were analysed using discriptive statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis and chi-square. It is found that while the respondent property managers(agents) base their selection criteria on tenant reputation, tenant impact record, tenancy report and size of the need in rental housing, prospective tenant's proposal, affordability and the reputation are the factors considered in commercial leases. It is also found that while there is significant relationship between the firms' core areas of professional practice and the tenant selection criteria, there is no significant relationship between the firms' years of property management practice, size of the firms and tenant selection criteria adopted in rental housing market.