Short term lease or long term?

[Jonathan Perez]

I was thinking about maybe giving my new tenants a shorter lease in case things wrong. Maybe something like a 3-6 month lease and then if they're good tenants I'll offer them a year lease. Is that something I should do? Or would that be dumb? This is my first tenant after the inherited one that is about to move out. Im a bit nervous. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Shawn Mcenteer]

You can always try a 3-6 month lease but that may deter potential tenant.  I think a strong background check and strong lease will work best for you.  I would do lease that ends in a good tenant selection season.  For myself we just entered an 11month lease with our tenants because we wanted the lease to end in May that way we can replace they in a prime time market for renters  ( or resign them on 1year).  I would have done a one year lease to start off but for the above reason it worked out fine doing 11 months.  For you a 3 month lease means you may have to find a new tenant  Dec/Jan, not a great time to be filling a vacancy.