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

[Steve Rozenberg]

that is going to be a challenge. I would recommend that you sign the lease, get the deposit money and just be very clear and upfront with the tenant of the situation. Normally if you disclose it all upfront and explain to them they will be understanding. They may even give you a few days to make sure the property is ready before they move in.

Better to let them know before then be upset and calling and being upset and feel misled.

[Colleen F.]

How clean is the current tenant? How reliable are they?  Are they really moving out on the last day?  If they really are moving out on the last day set up a turnover of keys/walk thru that day and book a cleaner.  Alternately if the previous tenant is relatively clean you could offer the new tenant a credit for the deep cleaning of the turnover for anything not up to snuff.  Preplan for the repairs needed by checking out a week or two before anything that is broken.  Ideally if the tenant moving out leaves sooner you have a couple of days to work with. If the outgoing tenant is a slob  either get them out early(preferable) or  put the new tenant off a couple of days.  If you have to paint you need to get them out earlier and book the painter well in advance. It can be done but you should manage it closely.

[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.

[Account Closed]

I rarely did this, but our rental agreement had a clause that said if the unit is not available on the contracted move-in date, due to no fault of the landlord, that the contract could be voided by either party, if I remember correctly.  You might just want to add some type of clause like that into your agreement.

[Scott Wang]

Thank you everyone for your feedback and @Marcia Maynard for your suggestion about the holding agreement!

edit:  apparently I don't know how to tag people yet.

[Kerry Grimshaw]

I agree with everyone above: pro-rate either side to make it work. In the past I have had similar situations and being that the move in date is so far away. I have had the incoming tenant back out and I lost 3 weeks of showing time and the cost of the initial advertising. I had to start completely over. I always take a non refundable deposit of (400-500) then have them pay the remaining balance on a mutually agreed upon date as long as its prior to the moving in date.

[Charlie Price]

We have a very desirable triplex in Midtown/Downtown Atlanta. We live about 6 hours away or so. Further when we're on the road in our RV traveling around. We have transitioned literally dozens of tenants on same day with this property over the years. Most of our tenants are educated yuppies making good money. Most seem to be flexible and kind great paying tenants. We almost always get the current tenants to gladly show the property, and many times they even find our next tenant through their personal or professional network. It seems to work out easy and fine for us. Of course I say this and my wife is the one who manages this property. LOL.