Buying properties with tenants

[Dibyendu Mukherjee]

Hi All,

I'm preparing for my 1st investment property in Columbus,OH. I am getting a lot of mails from agents for properties with tenants in them. A few questions:

1) What additional cost should I account for the property for having tenants in it? Just the property management company? How do they calculate cost here if the lease of the existing tenants is going to be up in 2 months? Any references for good property management companies are welcome.

2) What are some of the issues to be mindful of for having the tenants?

3) Will I be able to increase the rent at the end of the lease by any amount (of course to market rate) ? Or are there laws that prevent an increase beyond a certain %?

4) What questions I should ask my real estate agent or just in general what is it that I must know before investing in these types of properties so that I can avoid risks.

[Angela Harding]

When buying properties with tenants ask for the ledger, the application and the background checks. If they don’t have it then get the tenant info and do a background check. Sometimes people sell cause they have crappy tenants. Then when you have to evict it can cause thousands in damages. Make sure you walk through and see how tenants cleanliness is. Make sure you have social security number and birthdate before purchasing so you can pursue damages if need be.