Leasing & Onboarding New Renters
Everything you need to know about signing new lease agreements and onboarding new tenants.
Preparing to sign a lease agreement?
Don’t sign it lightly.
Have you collected rental applications from a large pool of candidates? Have you run credit, criminal and eviction reports on all applicants? Collected application fees or charged the screening reports to the renter, to verify they’re committed?
If you’ve done all that, and made all the phone calls to verify income, employment, housing history, etc., and you feel 100% rock solid about this tenant… now you need to make sure you have a defensive lease agreement.
Think of your lease agreement as your shield, your armor. Most state landlord-tenant laws are extremely tenant-friendly, and designed to protect the renter, not the landlord. That means you’re responsible for protecting yourself.
How do you do that? With a comprehensive, protective lease package. Read on for more details, and happy leasing!
“Required Reading” – Start Here First!
Want more? We have you covered! Here’s some further reading on lease agreements, security deposits, move-in and everything else you need to know about onboarding new renters.
Full Library of Leasing & New Tenancy Articles:
Want Better Results from Your Rentals? Try the 10/4 Rule
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Beyond Credit Reports: Subtle Red Flags in Tenant Screening
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Unconventional Financing Part 5: Friends & Family
(This is the fifth and final article in our Unconventional Financing series. To start at the beginning of the series, see Part 1: Real Estate Investing with Retirement Accounts). You need $75,000 for a real estate deal. Your cousin happens to have $75,000, and wants...
Michigan Rental Laws Guide
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Massachusetts Rental Laws Guide
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The Goldilocks Equation: Assessing Rental Property Enhancements
As someone who has over-improved his fair share of rental properties, I’ve learned some expensive answers to that question. How do you calculate returns on improvements, when each neighborhood (and sometimes each block) is different? How do you draw a line when...





