Tenant Screening & Becoming a Landlord

[Sally Pearson]

Hello! I am house hacking a single-family home in Washington D.C. and have a tenant I FT who seems great. I have a standard lease form from my real estate agent who said she can sign it to make it official for me. Only last thing is to screen the tenant. What are your non-negotiables when screening a tenant, and is this something you do on your own or via some software? My thought is that since it is my first house hack I can do it all myself, but want sound advice. 

Also, if there is anything you recommend adding to the lease agreement beyond the standard stuff - please let me know! 

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Sally Pearson:

Hmm...

You have a "standard lease" from your agent? How do you know it's "standard" or even good? It could be 15 years old and include things that violate the law. And then, without us knowing what's already in the lease, you are asking us what we should add to the lease, which is impossible to know.

BiggerPockets sells a Lease Agreement Package for $100 under the TOOLS menus. It's written by investors, attorney-approved for your state, fully editable, and has some other common forms included in the package. Whatever version you choose to use should be carefully studied to ensure you understand what it contains and consider how to enforce it.

It's also important to know the law. For example, you will hear about Fair Housing discrimination laws, but those typically don't apply because you have fewer than four rentals and are occupying the home with the renters. For example, you could discriminate and allow only Buddhist females if that were your preference. But if you advertise or work with a REALTOR, you may lose that freedom.

I highly recommend you buy "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" by NOLO. Written by attorney investors, it's full of practical advice pertaining to management of investment property, has sample forms that can be edited, and - most importantly - they tell you what your primary state laws are and where you can read them. It's updated every year and is the best $40 you'll spend as a Landlord. There is one book for 49 states and a separate book for California.