need advice from LANDLORDS please?

Question

i am a new landlord and new to this website.

i'm in the process of trying to find a tenant. i am not sure how to draft up a lease. i have no prior experience landlording. do i need to hire an attorney to draft a lease or is it something i can do on my own?

thanks

Answer 1

You need to find a lease that is valid in your state. If you find it on your own you could have an attorney review it.
Read everyword of the lease yourself. You most likely will need to retype the entire document, so you have your own copy. You need to think about adding specifics regarding pets, all vehicles must be titled to a legal tenant on the lease, have valid registration, and if not operating for over 4 weeks. I put in a clause to inspect the property quarterly and that it should be reasonably clean, sanitary, no trash or junk items, etc.
The main thing is your background checks. In reviewing credit, Ability, Stability and Willingness to Pay is what you need to look for. I call past landlords and verfiy employment.
Avoid roomate situations unless one person can demonstrate they can pay the entire payment.
You need to pull a credit report, I used a company in Columbus, Fabcogroup. (I have no association with them). Talk to them or find your own.
Does the city require a rental permit and inspection?
Look into the eviction process, does it work smoothly. Talk to other landlords in the area.

Answer 2

If you need to ask this question then you will find that you have a lot of other more important questions you should be asking.
No, you do not need an attorney. You need to know the rental laws of your state.
I suggest that you find a few local landlords to talk to about everything that is involved with renting. The wording of the lease is the least of your problems. Finding and checking references of the right tenant and knowing what to do if the tenant does not pay the rent or trashes the apartment are far more important than the wording of the lease.
Look up landlord tenant laws in your state.

Answer 3

Good lord, man, if you don't know the answers to these questions I hope you are SERIOUSLY considering a property manager. That being said.....

You should be able to purchase a pre-printed lease VALID FOR YOUR STATE in any large office supply store. Make sure you read it and understand it before you start filling in the blanks. I like to make a cover sheet covering the BASICS of the lease as 98% of tenants will just nod and sign without reading. They need to know- (a) how much the rent is and when it is due (b) how you apply late fees (c) who is paying for what utilities, (d) pets (e) who is taking care of the lawn, bushes, etc. Understand that these are the high points, you want to make these very clear right up front. Then go into the lease with them. If you can explain everything in the lease and let them read it (or even MAKE them read it) your troubles will be lessened by a factor of twenty.

There is also a PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FOR DUMMIES book.

I will tell you as a property manager that I run into new circumstances every day, and that a good property manager will be worth the 10% of the rent they charge. And a bad property manager will make you wish you had never been born, much less invested in real estate. :>

If you are in California, forget everything I said and get a property manager.

Answer 4

You don't need a lawyer...however, you need to learn and truly understand landlord/tenant laws in your state....I did my leases on my own and successfully evicted 1st tenant in 19 days start to finish (cuz my lease was very accurate)...and evicted a subsequent tenant (for neighborhood violence) in six days because I new the state law he violated even though nothing in my lease said he can't harass the neighbors.

just google your state and landlord tenant laws....

A good piece of advice....specify time of day rent is due by. That way at 5 minutes after....you can start the legal clock running. Also specify calendar day not business day for when rent is due (i.e. first calendar day of each month).

Answer 5

Go to your local stationary store or someplace like Staples, Office Club. They have standard rental agreements or you can buy the agreement on a CD and use it over and over again.

There are excellent website for landlords and tenants with the basic questions and answers.

I have been an apartment manager and also I have worked for a property management company. Make sure that you run a credit check on anyone that you are planning on renting to. They pay for the credit check and not the landlord.

Remember is it easier to get someone in, and harder to get them out if they do not pay their rent.

Answer 6

Yes, on seeing a lawyer to draft your first legal agreement. Write down things you request BEFORE you get to his office concerning damage deposits, utilities, pets, repairs, yard work, carpet cleaning,damages to the house.I even had a small clause put in about hanging pictures, because someone had tried to hang a really heavy mirror and put a large hole in the wall in my rental property.Plus, you might want to add that you can stop by for a home insppection. And, if they are late on rent more than 3 times, they are evicted.The lawyer should advise you of the rights in your state.In my state, they say taking a tennant to court is the hardest thing to make stick. Good luck!

Answer 7

You can download a lease form from the internet. Use one from your state. Also, check the laws in your state just as an FYI.

Answer 8

the best thing to do is go to a realtor who does property management let them find a tenant they know how to find great tenants there's a fee & you don't need them to manage the property but to just find renters. it cost a friend of mine 150.00 next time i'll do the same thing. i had to learn the hard way