How Do You Generate Leases?

Question

I downloaded the BiggerPockets lease and landlord forms for my state. To use this lease we would have to make a number of changes and we want to avoid having to hire a lawyer to review it so we can keep our costs down. There are also other types of forms that are missing from the BiggerPockets package. I know there are different options like lawyer-approved leases from trade associations, property management software like TurboTenant, and legal document software like Nolo and DocDraft. Before we make a decision on which option to use I just wanted to check with this community first. How are you generating leases and other legal forms for your properties?

Twannisha Jackson · Answer

hi, i look at 5,10, 25+ leases- all my state & other places as well. I go with the Ohio law & I’ll leave the basics. the other leases i’ve read, some good stuff i take, some bad stuff i leave. i wrote down the extra stuff & stuff that will protect me (financially & personally). you will end up going over the lease many times over the course of ur real estate investing, that’s normal. get to a computer & start typing. I say to make it even sweeter? get an attorney to look it over & ask them how good is it. worth that money $$$

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Tyler Foshe you're not going to do well if you're, "penny-wise, but dollar-foolish"!

When I started, I got ahold of every lease I could find to copy & paste what I liked from each. Also found clauses I didn't even think of!

THEN I had an attorney review it to make sure it complied with all federaql, state and local statutes. The attorney fee was worth it, because:1) Suggested missing compliance issues2) Pointed out violations that wouldn't stand in court3) Suggested changes for legal clarity4) Suggested additional clauses I hadn't thought of

Since then, we review our lease annually to improve it to address tenant-related and court-related issues.

Tyler Foshe · Answer

That sounds like a solid approach where you can take what you like from a number of different leases and then have a lawyer look over the consolidated draft. I ended up doing something similar but with just a few leases. Thanks for the suggestion.

Jimmy Lieu · Answer

Hey Tyler, great question and totally get wanting to keep costs low while still doing things the right way. A lot of investors I know either use leases from their state apartment association or they get them through a good local property manager, since those are usually already updated to match local laws and save you from having to reinvent the wheel. Some people do use software platforms but having something that's backed by a local association or reviewed in your market tends to be safer long term.

Tyler Foshe · Answer

Hi Teekap. Yes, the BiggerPockets leases are vetted by an attorney but the lease for our state does not meet all of our requirements.

Tyler Foshe · Answer

Thanks @Yanik Parsch and @Isabella Orsi for the positive feedback on Baselane. I will check it out.

Isabella Orsi · Answer

I personally use Baselane and really enjoy it. They have state-specific templates that are very affordable (only $10 per lease) and you can adapt them as you see fit. So far my experience has been great.

Tyler Foshe · Answer

Hi Jimmy. Thanks for the tip. I have been looking at another lease from an apartment association and it has a lot of good terms.

Teekap Pate · Answer

Hello! Are the Bigger Pocket leases not pre-vetted by an attorney prior to them publishing?

How Do You Generate Leases?

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