Tips for first time landlord in Buffalo

[Stephanie Bell]

Hello, I'm closing on my first investment property in about a month. It's located in Buffalo in the Five Points area. I live out of state (out of country, actually), and have never lived/rented/landlorded in the US. I know a lot about standard practices where I live, but am wondering if all those things are transferrable. For example, is it standard to ask for first and last month's rent upfront? Do you usually ask tenants to sign a one year lease and then shift to month to month? Is there a standard lease template? I'm surprised at how few local resources there are for landlords or that they aren't easy to find. I've been trying to get up to speed on tenants rights in New York, which can help understand what is expected of the landlord, but would appreciate some content geared to landlords. 

[Matthew Irish-Jones]

Quote from @Stephanie Bell:

Hello, I'm closing on my first investment property in about a month. It's located in Buffalo in the Five Points area. I live out of state (out of country, actually), and have never lived/rented/landlorded in the US. I know a lot about standard practices where I live, but am wondering if all those things are transferrable. For example, is it standard to ask for first and last month's rent upfront? Do you usually ask tenants to sign a one year lease and then shift to month to month? Is there a standard lease template? I'm surprised at how few local resources there are for landlords or that they aren't easy to find. I've been trying to get up to speed on tenants rights in New York, which can help understand what is expected of the landlord, but would appreciate some content geared to landlords. 

 To second what @Timothy Smith said you are in violation of a few local laws already.  I normally advise people to self manage for the first part of their journey if they can so that they can get a knowledge base to become better investors.

At some point if you get to enough units self management is tough and its too costly to hire an employee so the numbers make sense hiring a property manager.

To be blunt, you are going down a risky path for an investor.  If you do not know the laws, how to properly screen a tenant, best practices for accounting, managing vendors and late night maintenance calls, you can be doomed from the start.  The cost of eviction is really high in NYS, the cost of mismanaging an asset is even higher. 

Tim is a great resource and may be able to do some consulting to bring you up to speed, but you are still going to need a small army of vendors to get the task done.

If you are set on self managing our company offers lease only services, at least that way you can get a fully screened tenant, with a lease template written by licensed attorney's and be in full compliance with renting. 

Buffalo is a great place to invest, but its easy to lose money if you put the wrong tenant in place or get a fair housing violation.  Best of luck to you!