Meeting my tenants - first time landlord!

[Polina Goncharova]

Hi BP Folks,

One year since I started on BP, I've finally purchased my first Buy and Hold in Chicago Pilsen area. It's a 3 flat and is fully rented, due to my FHA loan guidelines, I will be moving in once one of the leases is up. I have already communicated this with the tenants and they are understanding that they cannot renew their lease.

I am meeting one on one with the tenants this weekend and I want to ensure I communicate the appropriate rules and guidelines. 

There are parking spots that the tenants use, free of charge, one of the tenants seems to think that I am responsible to clean the snow from this parking space. Am I correct to assume that I am not at all responsible for this? 

Do I need to have them re-sign any leases? Or do I automatically assume the current leases. 

Anything else I need to communicate other than where to reach me?

Big thanks to you all.

Polina

[Marcia Maynard]

Congratulations on your purchase! Yes. Read the current leases. You will need to honor the terms of the current leases unless you and the tenants mutually agree to change the terms. You will also need to provide documents that will reflect the change of ownership and how to pay rent. Generally, for a multiplex, the landlord would be responsible to take care of all common areas, including landscaping & snow removal. However for areas designated for individual tenant use (like a garden bed in front of the unit, enclosed back patio area, or an assigned parking space) you could write it into the lease as the responsibility of the individual tenant to whom it is assigned.

If it is a tri-plex, will you move into only one of the units and still rent out the other two?  Do all the leases expire at about the same time? Are all three units comparable? If they were I, I would not be too quick to tell the tenants their lease will not renew. Instead, I would wait to see how the three units and how the three tenants compare. Observe and listen attentively. I would introduce myself and share with them information about myself, such as my management style and my mission/vision/values regarding owning and managing residential rental property. 

I would let them know it is important to me to maintain the properties well and I would ask them if there is anything in their apartment that currently needs attention. I would also schedule a walk through each unit to establish the current property condition and sign with them an updated "Property Condition Report". If I had their move-in checklists, I would take a look at those ahead of time so I could ask about the current condition as compared to the move-in condition. That will help me document for damages. Then I would get to work and attend to repairs and maintenance needs.

These are your tenants now and two of them will be your neighbors as soon as you choose one unit to move into. Think about how you will interact, as you will be wearing two hats... landlord & neighbor. Establish clear guidelines for how you want the tenants to contact you for emergency needs and for routine matters. You may choose to move into the unit that is in need of the most remodeling, or you may choose to move into the unit that has the least desirable tenant - so they will move out.