Drawing up a lease agreement help

[Allen Allcorn]

We have been using property management for 1 yr and our lease is up with them at end of July. I spoke with tenants and they are unhappy with the management team citing having to repeatedly call to get stuff done, I was unaware and now after talking with tenant decided we will self manage and save the money (10%) and headache the renters had. They are willing to sign minimum 18 month contract with us and are willing to do all minor maintenance/repairs themselves, I just pay for parts if necessary. It is a higher ranking military family and have been great tenants so far. It's a single family home. My question is what is the best way to draw up a lease? Get a lawyer to do it or is there a simple template somewhere? Also any certain non obvious things to include? Something a seasoned landlord might know of that we don't? This will be our first attempt at self manage and only have been invested in real estate for 1 year for our background.

[Jon Lee]

Hi @Allen Allcorn...I would suggest you go to not just any real estate attorney but specifically an attorney who specializes in "evictions".  If possible, on who has represented both land-lords and tenants before.  The reason why an eviction attorney is so great is because of their laser focus and expertise in the subject.  My eviction attorney here in Las Vegas, reviews all my leases to ensure that I don't have anything that could 1) be a loophole not in my favor & 2) have stipulations or lack of stipulations that could void the lease.  Also eviction attorneys know how to navigate the court even better than your normal real estate attorney.  I don't know how large a town you live in but reach out and find someone who is reputable.  If there is no such specialist in your area, try to find the best real estate attorney that has some extensive eviction experience.

Last thing...check out www.erentpayments.com.  all my properties use a PM except one.  I collect the rent with the one lone rental through this service and I have had no issues at all.  

Best of luck to you!