Updated about 8 years ago on . Most recent reply
Signing a lease before closing
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has experience with signing a lease with a tenant before closing on the property? I am under contract on a duplex in Denver with a close date of December 1. A woman has reached out through the seller and is interested in renting it and moving in December 7. She seems to meet all of the criteria (but I will do a complete screening), but I am unsure about the legality of entering into a lease before we close. I don't want to turn away a good tenant since this is a terrible time of year to find a tenant. Any suggestions or knowledge are appreciated! Thanks!
Most Popular Reply
- Rental Property Investor
- Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida
- 2,490
- Votes |
- 2,733
- Posts
In short, don't do it. Are you already advertising the property? If so, I'm not sure I'd recommend that you do that either.
Close on the property and then treat it as yours. If closing gets postponed or even cancelled, you'll be in a mess.
Same with when you do own it and have a tenant move out. Just wait until the tenant is out before trying to rerent it. Lots of people try to show a unit when the tenant is still there and the tenant gets mad. Or they don't move out in time. Or there is more damage and cleaning than expected.