Should I hire a lawyer to review our lease? Minneapolis area

[Megan A.]

My husband and I purchased a duplex about a year ago and occupy one side and rent out the other to a wonderful tenant.  When we purchased the property we did our own research on state laws and used outlines that we found online to come up with a new lease, we also used parts of what the previous owner had the lease. At the time we felt we did not have the money to hire a lawyer to review but now we are in a better place financially to do so if it is necessary.  I feel like we have a good handle on the laws but I want to make sure we have all of our bases covered for the future.  What is your opinion and can anybody recommend a good lawyer in the Minnetonka, MN area that specializes in this kind of law? Thank you.

[Carl Petterson]

Megan - I'm an attorney and I fall into the minimizing expenses camp when starting out. 

If you're just testing the waters, house hacking, etc., I suggest you do what you're comfortable with. The Minnesota State Bar Association has a great 'free' lease on their website. It's vetted, reviewed, and updated by attorneys. Other Minnesota lease forms are available too - check the Secretary of State's website and the Realtor's Association. Most are designed as a fill-in-the-blank type forms. Review them, and if they make sense to you, use them. If not, reach out to someone (like a friend or mentor, including counsel) that can explain it or share their documents. (Let's keep this a secret, but those are the forms many attorneys use as the template for their documents.) Many attorney's dabble in this area, but I encourage you to use a well-established real estate attorney. Use their knowledge and expertise to grow yours, not just review your documents. Ask a billion and one questions when you meet with them.

Once you're established, have multiple properties, or it's a business, then I suggest as others and request a document review and an hour or two from an experienced real estate attorney.

You probably need something in place, but please don't try creating your own or download a generic non-MN one from a blog. That could be worse than having nothing.