Having trouble with a tenant and rent

[Tosin Omoba]

I just recently got a tenant into a property of mine, his first rent is due on the 1st no later than the 3rd. Today is the 3rd and he still hasn't paid, I want to know what actions to take once it's 11:59pm. Do I send him a notice to vacate? also are the notice is send what do I do next?

Please I'd like some advice, thank you. Also this is in Texas.

[Bill B.]

Thsi is going to come off harsh, but mostly because we’re not talking face to face. It’s truly meant to be helpful. 

Is it too late to convince you to hire a property manager?

These are all things you should have known before you bought or for sure before you rented it out. And it looks like the screening was sub-par. Your only hope is this isn’t a professional tenant and you’re only going to lose a month or two of rent and a thousand or two. 

You should be able to Google Texas landlord handbook or more importantly the city in Texas your property is in. You’ll need to look up how many days of grace the tenant has (they may not be required to pay by the 3rd no matter what the lease says.) and then it will say what notices you have to post and how. And then the following steps. 

The reason I suggest the PM is even if you nailed the full market rent, if this costs you only one month of vacancy it will cost you more than the PM would have. If you underpriced it or this tenant never pays, you are paying to play PM. 

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.