right to control who gets to live in your home. Remember your minimum qualification standards). For example, do they look directly at you when you speak to them? Do they seem friendly, clear, and confident? Or do they act evasive, shifty, avoiding eye contact and not answering your questions fully? The latter could indicate signs of dishonesty. It’s probably best to pass on a tenant like this.
TRUST YOUR GUT
Trust your gut! If any prospective tenant gives off a bad vibe, go with your gut; it’s usually right in cases like these (and in life in general). Some people don’t give much credence to the power of instinct, but trusting your gut is powerful, and even necessary, when it comes to weeding out “bad apples,” watching out for red flags, and making sure you have the right tenant living in your home and taking care of your property. Melody Wilding, a licensed therapist and professor of human behavior at Hunter College (New York), says that “trusting your gut is trusting the collection of all your subconscious experiences.” Hana Ayoub, a professional development coach, says she’s never heard a client say they’ve ever regretted going with their gut. Of course, you also need to make decisions based on logic, reasoning, facts, science—which is why you need to screen every potential tenant using your minimum qualification standards checklist. But quite often, your gut instinct can be a very accurate way to make decisions. Jack Welch, one-time successful CEO of General Electric (GE), wrote a New York Times bestseller book, Jack: Straight from the Gut (2003), all about trusting your gut instinct. He was considered a business legend who really knew how to manage and improve his company.
He didn’t write a book on learning how to make logical, rational
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