How to do a smooth transition between tenants

[Scott Wang]

I have a single-family house and the current tenant is moving out April 30th.   I just found a new tenant to take it starting May 1st.

I've never gone straight from one tenant to the next in one day, and I've never selected a new tenant a month before the start date.  So my questions are:

 - Even though it's 1 month before the start date, should I still have the new tenant sign the full lease and all the paperwork, or just some type of letter of intent and deposit to hold the property?

- Should the new tenant pay the security deposit and May's rent right now or do you make May's rent due on May 1st and just take the security deposit up front?

- If the house needs a small amount of touch-up paint, or some extra cleaning, how do you normally squeeze that in between the last day of the old lease and the first day of the new lease?

I've had rentals for a few years now but my experience has been to buy a fixer-upper, renovate it, then rent it out.  This is my first time transitioning between two tenants.

Scott

[Marcia Maynard]

Be willing to pro-rate a return of rent for the tenant vacating if they are willing to leave sooner and give you the time you need to do cleaning and repairs.  

Be willing to pro-rate rent for the incoming tenant if the unit isn't ready by their move-in date. Be open and honest in your communication with the incoming tenant about what is going on, especially since there could be a delay in the readiness of the unit. 

We did a close turnover once on a unit that had been kept in good shape. No repairs were needed and it was left fairly clean. I paid the incoming tenant a nominal amount to do their own cleaning of the unit, since there was not time for us to do our final detail clean. Worked out well.

We've also allowed tenants to move-in to a unit that had a few items left to clean/repair. The tenants let us do our final clean/repairs during their first week of tenancy and we completed the move-in checklist after we were done.

I would prepare a holding agreement with a holding deposit that puts in writing what you are prepared to do. Prepare the rental agreement in advance too, but have the incoming tenant sign that and pay their rent and security deposit as soon as the current tenant has vacated, before handing over the keys.