Hello BP Mates,

I just closed on my first out-of-state investment property and just found out that the current tenant abandoned the property. 

Originally I had thought that having a current tenant meant mitigating vacancy. My PM felt the house was clean and nothing raised a red flag on inspection. I disregarded conventional wisdom that it is riskier to inherit a tenant that someone else chose. I see this as a major learning opportunity as now I can do some rehab, potentially raise rents, and place a new well-screened tenant. I've also learned that the greater risk maybe not to have the property vacant on purchase. 

I'm looking for advice from other people who have been through this. Below is the timeline and action items we will take now. Is there anything we may be missing or anything I should be aware of or prepare for?

We sent a Notice of Abandonment via certified mail yesterday, June 24th. This notice outlines that if we do not hear from her within five days that we will forcibly enter the property to confirm abandonment, and drill/replace the locks to ensure it’s secure.
If we do not hear back from her by Monday, we already have it scheduled to visit the property Tuesday, June 30th.
Once we are able to confirm the tenant is not at the property, our next steps are to treat it as if we were receiving a vacancy to lease.

1. Complete a walkthrough inspection.
2. Create a Make-Ready list of repairs to be sent out for bidding. On this list we include items that must be done to list for lease, optional/preventative maintenance items, and items that would increase your rent rate by X amount.
3. When we receive the bid we will reach out to you for discussion and approval.
4. Once approved, we will schedule repairs along with closing repairs.
5. Upon completion of repairs, we will have professional photos taken, list it for lease, and secure a tenant.

I will be following up with you on Tuesday after the abandonment check, and I will have photos to you on Wednesday.