Odd situation - getting a rental contract in place

[Joe Kessler]

Hi there,

We just did our first deal to buy a townhome in our area at well below market value from a family friend.  Basically, they had bought the property for cash about three years ago as a place for their daughter to stay as she got her career off the ground.  Now that we are under contract, they have generously allowed us access to the property for about a month before closing - even giving us a key - in order to show to prospective tenants and do cleaning, small improvements, etc...  The wisdom of such an arrangement aside, my question concerns establishing a rental contract for a property you don't legally own yet:

If we close on the property on December 1st but have access to the property all through the month of November, can we have a signed rental contract to start on that date (or just thereafter) - even if the rental contract is signed before we actually own the property?  This seems like a dumb question, I know, I'm just looking for any way to leverage this situation to our advantage, other than just getting an opportunity to do marketing / open house for renters prior to being responsible for the holding costs, etc?