When To Sign Lease & Collect Rent

[Alex L.]

Hi, my first rental is up for a new tenant(I have only had one since turning it into a rental). I listed the property and found a new tenant that has completed an application, screening, application fee, is qualified and is ready to commit. However, the lease doesn't start for 3 months. My current tenants gave me a large heads up and I was able to find someone within a week of them telling me.

My question: Do I have them sign the lease now and do a security deposit or do I wait until it's closer, week, etc, and do it then? It seems like I should have them do a deposit and sign the lease now, but maybe you legally can't?

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Lawrence Briggs:

@Nathan Gesner great advice! I am closing on a SF 2bd/1ba rental in a few days. The property is vacant and move-in ready. The sellers, who have owned the property for several years as a rental, informed me yesterday that someone is interested in renting the property. The prospective tenant is the mother of the previous tenants. The previous tenants were good and only moved because they outgrew the home (needed a 3 bedroom). I am wondering your thoughts on this. In a way, it's nice to know that I could close on the property and have a tenant in it during the same timeframe, but I also want to test the rental applicant pool and market in general. I can afford both mortgages, so I'm not in a rush to find a tenant. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. 

Make sure it's at market rate before taking applications from someone chomping at the bit to get in. Maybe the mother just likes the rental or location. Or maybe she knows it's rented below market when her daughter lived there and she's hoping to get the same good deal.