All Forum Posts by: Nick W.

I am the tenant who just moved into a property yesterday night (July 27th in Maryland). We signed a year lease for July '18 - July '19. We paid for the full month of July and security deposit. We were going to move in about a week into July, but were told by the landlord that she made a mistake. The previous tenant's lease went through July. They moved out just before July 27th. 

We had jobs starting in July so we couldn't delay the move until August. She did provide us an empty rental of hers in another city (further away from work) to live in rent and utility free for one week. So that problem was solved but we had to change lots of plans, live without most of our stuff for the week, and had to move what fit in our cars twice. I am grateful she offered a solution though. 

She said she would use the rent we paid for July to cover August instead. She told us the day we moved in (July 27th) that she wants us to pay for the remaining days of July because we moved in early. 

My question is: (1) Do we need to write and sign a new lease? (2) Should we pay for the last 4-5 days of July? (3) Anything else we ought to take care of?

I am resistant to the idea of paying for the rest of July because (1) She didn't mention this until we moved in (2) She never mentioned prorating our rent for our benefit when we were going to move in after July 1st (3) This is all initially her fault for overlapping leases. 

I am willing to pay if it is what would be most fair, but I don't know what is normal or customary here. Thank you for any advice! 

Thank you guys for all of the input! 

Can anyone recommend a real estate agent that works in the Huntsville, AL area? Of course, preference going to someone who understands investing. 

I have zero experience in real estate and landlording, but I have been educating myself for a while. I wish to be a real estate investor with a focus on buying and holding in the future. Some of my conceptions could be completely off base because I don't know how things work in the real world yet. I would like to househack because I do not have large amounts of capital for a downpayment yet, and it would allow me to get an FHA loan.

Does anyone have experience or advice in the prospect of buying and moving into a multifamily property that is already occupied? With a special emphasis on being safe, because I am considering living in areas of town that are a little sketchier than average. 

I'm assuming you would speak with the current owner or property management about when the leases are up. Is it possible to ask the current owner to ask the tenants about their intentions once the lease is up? Is it unethical or confrontational to not renew someone's lease if all of the occupants want to stay? 

To avoid any potential backlash, could it be a good idea to "buy them off" by helping to pay for moving costs or another incentive? Or perhaps raise the rents on each unit and hope someone moves out voluntarily? 

I would prefer them to not know why their lease was not being renewed to avoid a retaliation in the future because they would know where I lived. Would it be smart to put the property under a third party property management company to handle the discussion, at least for the transition period? This would possibly mask that the new tenant coming into their place had something to do with them having to move. This wouldn't be fullproof though because if they have a relationship with the other tenants that information would likely make its way to the ex-tenant. 

Is this doable at all or is it only a recipe for disaster? Am I being overly paranoid/cautious or could this be a real issue?