First Rental Ever. Any Advice?

Question

I just got a lease signed for my first ever tenant. I am renting out a single-family home. The tenants move in two months from now.  Any advice for a new landlord?

Josh Sedivy · Answer

Congratulations on signing your first lease, Lawrence! That’s a huge milestone! Here are a few tips to help you get off to a great start as a new landlord:

• Document Everything: Create a detailed move-in checklist with photos to record the property's condition. This will help prevent disputes when the lease ends.
• Set Clear Expectations: Provide tenants with a welcome packet outlining policies (maintenance requests, rent payment methods, trash pickup schedule, etc.).
• Screen Tenants Thoroughly: For leases, always run background, credit, and rental history checks. It’s better to wait for the right tenant than rush into a problem.
• Plan for Repairs: Set aside a portion of the rent each month for maintenance. Things will break, and being prepared will reduce stress.
• Stay Professional but Friendly: Be approachable and responsive, but keep communication professional. Put everything important in writing.
• Know Your Local Laws: Stay informed on landlord-tenant laws in your area. Security deposit handling, eviction rules, notice periods, etc.I hope this helps!

Document Everything: Create a detailed move-in checklist with photos to record the property's condition. This will help prevent disputes when the lease ends.

Set Clear Expectations: Provide tenants with a welcome packet outlining policies (maintenance requests, rent payment methods, trash pickup schedule, etc.).

Screen Tenants Thoroughly: For leases, always run background, credit, and rental history checks. It’s better to wait for the right tenant than rush into a problem.

Plan for Repairs: Set aside a portion of the rent each month for maintenance. Things will break, and being prepared will reduce stress.

Stay Professional but Friendly: Be approachable and responsive, but keep communication professional. Put everything important in writing.

Know Your Local Laws: Stay informed on landlord-tenant laws in your area. Security deposit handling, eviction rules, notice periods, etc.I hope this helps!

Yousuf A Kadir · Answer

Get the right toolkit set up earlier so you are prepared to scale. I’d recommend baselane for business banking landlord software and rentometer for rental market data.

Slowly build a portfolio of trusted electricians, plumbers, handymen, etc. they will be happy that you are a repeat customer and will help cut you deals

Ying Tang · Answer

@Lawrence Courtien congratulations! Josh mentioned everything I want to say. I am reading the Brandon Turner book recently. One thing listed as the reason for a failure of rental is "try to be friends with tenants". So act professionally, document everything (all the communications, if you talk in person for something important, follow up with an email for documentation).

First Rental Ever. Any Advice?

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