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:
Ep. 9: The 3 Things that Cost Landlords Money & Time (and How to Minimize Them)
Most months, landlords can simply cash their rent check. (Or better yet, just watch the rent get direct deposited in their bank account.) Then suddenly they have a $5,000 repair, or tenants who stop paying the rent, or a vacant unit they have to fill. The rental unit...
Ep. 8: The 3 Step Strategy to Persuade a Skeptical Spouse to Invest in Real Estate
Do you want to invest in real estate, but your spouse remains skeptical? If you and your spouse don't share the same financial vision and goals, you're in trouble. One spouse tugs the rope in one direction, the other yanks in the opposite direction, and your bottom...
Ep. 7: 6 Ways to Diversify Your Real Estate Portfolio
Diversification is a huge challenge for traditional real estate investors. Why? Because when each asset costs $250,000, and even down payments cost $50,000, you end up with an enormous amount of money tied up in each individual asset. Compounding the problem: most...
Ep. 6: Rental Properties & Marijuana: The Landlord’s Guide to Weed
Image Credit: Plantlady223 under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International Do landlords have to worry about weed? Yes. But not necessarily for the reasons you think. Smoking inside your unit yellows the walls, leaves a gnarly odor, and can ruin...
Ep. 5: Credit in Recessions: Why & How to Protect Your Credit in Downturns
Credit can make or break your ability to invest in real estate. With bad credit, you'll have a much harder time borrowing an investment property loan — if anyone will lend to you at all. Recessions make it that much harder to keep your credit in tip-top shape however....
Ep. 4: Down Payment Hacks: How to Invest with Less
Yes, it takes money to invest in real estate. Your own money, not just lenders' money. But that doesn't mean you can't occasionally bend the rules. As you explore ways to get started investing in real estate without an enormous trust fund, consider some of the...
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