Best Lease Agreement?

Question

Good morning,

Ok that took a bit longer than anticipated, but I finally found a good tenant. However, I seemed to have put the cart before the horse because I don't have any lease agreements ready to deploy. Can you guys point me in a good direction please? Or is there a lease I can grab online that you guys like to use? I would rather not just pick one from a hat. The tenant is waiting in the wind right now so I do need to get on this ASAP. Thanks!

Bradley Coleman · Answer

Thank you Nathan G thats good advice. While flexing my Google skills I finally found what I was searching for. I ended up using this lease agreement http://www.landlordleaseforms.com/free/lease-agreement.php. If anything it might be a little extensive for my needs - but better safe than sorry I guess.

Bradley Coleman · Answer

Comparatively that lease looks to include everything and then some. I’ve heard all the horror stories. And not wanting to be one of them, is there anything else I should include in my lease above and beyond that one? Thanks!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

You've experienced one of the most common mistakes made by new Landlords: waiting until the problem surfaces before developing a solution.

Find a good real estate attorney in your area and buy a lease from them. It's worth the money to have them explain what it does and doesn't cover. It can prepare you for problems down the road.

Speaking of which, NOW is the time to make a list of potential problems and develop solutions:

• What do I do if rent is late? Or the tenant doesn't pay at all?
• How do I kick the tenant out?
• Neighbors are complaining about noise, parking, car on the lawn...
• Tenant moved in three dogs, another family, etc.
• Tenant is renting my unit out on AirBnB
• Should I let the tenant paint?
• What is ordinary wear-and-tear?
• How do I inspect at move-out and what do I charge?

There are hundreds of potential problems. Don't wait until they pop up and then try to solve them in the heat of the moment. There are good books that will help you prepare like NOLO Every Landlord's Legal Guide that will provide a solid foundation. You can use BP to refine or fill in the blanks.

James Wise · Answer

You'd be best served to have an attorney draft up a general lease for you. You don't want to go to court down the road & find out your boiler plate lease left out something that could cost you tons of money. This risk is further amplified by the fact that you are in California which appears to be one of the most tenant friendly states in the entire county.

I suggest you also take a look at this discussion we've been having since yesterday ☠️ Cities in America with the WORST Landlord Tenant policies ☠️ There are some totally insane landlord tenant policies out there in California that could cause you huge money down the road. If you are gonna go into battle in that area you need to be armed with a bullet proof lease.

Bradley Coleman · Answer

@kenbreeze I don't remember where I got that avatar to be honest. Thanks guys for the suggestions. Let me tool around those links and do some more googling...

Eileen Murray · Answer

BP also offers a landlord forms package you can download.  State specific. Last I checked they were about $99.

Ken Breeze · Answer

Hey @Bradley Coleman first off, where did you get your cool cartoon avatar? I want one ;-)

I can't make a direct recommendation since I'm not from your area, but I'm sure someone on the forum can.

You could check out LegalZoom, DocuSign or even  the file place here on Bigger Pockets.

It also helps to build up a variety of team players for your future endeavors by checking out the company page in the menu above to hook up with a few professionals in the area you need team support in. The advantage on BP is that you can ask around in the forums, using kewords (e.g. lease agreement), what experience they may have had with them. I can't emphasize this tool enough since it save a ton of time finding people or stuff you need.

Since savy BP members use keywords, it's a good idea to be rich in those terms you're looking for when posting anything here on BP. Include @FirstName to include people in the thread or otherwise to nudge them to engage.

Good luck.

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