All Forum Posts by: Tiana Wright

Good afternoon Jessica,

First things first, congrats on closing on your first rental property! That's so exciting! 

Now, to address your concerns regarding the current tenant, here are a few things to remember. If the tenant is currently in a lease with the previous owner, you have a legal obligation to abide by that lease until expiration. The only time this would not be the case would have been if the owner negotiated the tenant to break the contract/lease prior to closing on the property. 

My suggestion would be to send the tenants a "Welcome" letter introducing yourself as the new owner and providing them with any contact information for you going forward. In addition, you should include a 'Tenant Information Update' form that the tenant should fill out and send back to you so that you have all of their updated information as well. The Tenant Information Update letter template can be found on EZlandlordforms.com. 

Prior to closing, you should always have the current owner provide you with the current rental agreement, the tenant's rental application, (along with copies of driver's license, social security cards and pay statements, if applicable) and a statement of rent paid. Try to get as much information as you can from the owner.

Once the lease is up, you are free to create your own agreement going forward or to even get a new tenant if you see fit. 

I hope that helps!

-Tiana 

Hi Michael,

I currently use Tenant Cloud. It has a low-cost, it's highly intuitive and user-friendly and it allows you to create invoices and send/receive funds. You can create a free version so that you can browse around to see if it meets your needs prior to purchase. 

In my opinion, if you have multiple properties, Tenant Cloud is the perfect software. As a plus, it also allows you send/receive tenant applications and rental agreements as well.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

-Tiana

Hello!

My suggestion is not to have the prospect sign a lease. Even though it is definitely harder to get tenants in the winter months, having someone sign a lease prior to closing may not be such a good idea -- especially if there are current tenants in the property. There are a multitude of different issues that could arise that may either push closing out further than expected or the home may end up having issues that are out of your control (although we hope that wouldn't happen). You don't want to have someone sign a lease with the expectations to move in on a specific date (and possibly even give their current landlord notice) and not be able to move in due to a delay or issue.

If you were adamant on maintaining this prospective tenant, I would make sure to give full disclosure on the situation and ensure the prospective tenant is aware that if you do not close (or if closing is pushed out) that you are not legally responsible and that in this event, their move in date will be moved accordingly. It is also important that you get those stipulations in writing and have the prospect sign a disclosure stating that they are fully aware of these guidelines.

If the tenant is okay with those stipulations, then by all means, draw up an agreement (I still wouldn't suggest having them sign a lease), possibly collect a deposit to hold the property (and to ensure they are serious), have them sign a disclo and handle it from there. 

Good luck!

-Tiana

Hello Brad,

I currently use Tenant Cloud as my property management software. It offers monthly accounting reports, online payment options, website creation ability, maintenance requests (filtered by property), advertising, online tenant screening, lease creations and tenant/property match functionalities. You even have the ability to send your tenant's leases via e-signature and their monthly rent receipts electronically.

In addition, you can house all of your management contact information within the program -- such as lawyers, contractors and handyman. I use it in every aspect of my property management business. 

It definitely has fulfilled all of my expectations and more...and what I love most about it is the fact that it is completely user friendly -- it's a very intuitive program with a vast array of features. Definitely worth checking out!  It has a free version and in the event you'd like to upgrade once you obtain more properties, the monthly cost is extremely reasonable. 

Hope that helps!

-Tiana

Good morning Duane,

Is there a current lease in place? If so, unfortunately you'll have to abide by the tenant's current lease until it expires, unless you were to make a deal with the current owners prior to closing on the house.

I think the best bet would be to speak with the tenant directly. Set up an informal introductory meeting and let them get to know you. If there is currently a lease in place, go over the details of the current rental agreement. Go over both yours and their expectations with negotiation but be open and honest with the them as far as your expectation of change. 

With that being said, I think that if these are good tenants that you should express empathy but be honest about the rental increase. Letting them know what you think a fair rental amount would be and asking for feedback will probably give them more ease than coming in and increasing their rent full force. 

Tenants will always have fear when the property they live in (and have lived in for long periods of time) is purchased and managed under new ownership. So coming in with that knowledge and addressing that issue first will likely soften the blow and create an understanding between yourself and your new tenants. 

I hope that helps!

-Tiana

 Good morning Duane, 

I retrieve my rental agreements from Rocket Lawyer. They have a trial offer that you may use and download their templates free of charge in the first 7 days. Otherwise, Google will be your best friend. This was one of the results that I found when I googled searched rental agreements. http://www.yummydocs.com/file/simple-rental-agreem...

Let me know if that works out for you.

-Tiana

Thanks so much for sharing, Joshua! This was a ton of very great information! Even having years of property management experience, I still learned some new tricks of the trade!! Again, thanks for sharing this post!!