A few total newbie questions- closing on my 1st quadplex Friday

[Jaelin Mayer]

Hi, BiggerPockets community!

I am closing on my 1st quadplex in CO Springs this Friday. Yaaay! :)

All 4 units are currently rented. 3 of the units are long-term tenants that are on m2m and 1 unit has a year lease. 

I want to have the 3 m2m tenants sign new leases with me because a) I'm going to use the BP leases which I feel more comfortable with, and b) I would prefer to have everyone in a 6 month lease so that I don't have to deal with people moving out in the winter and trying to find new tenants then... 

My question is: Can I have them sign a lease with me effective August 1st or does it have to be September 1st? There is wording in the current lease about 30-day notice, so I'm unclear about the right way to do this.

Additionally, there are several units with below-market rents, two of them significantly. I intend to increase the rent to market rate, but I would like to do that gradually. I would rather have people stay and not have vacancies. Is there a rate of increase that people have found to be tolerable with their tenants? I'm sure there isn't an exact formula and it depends on the area and other factors, but if there are rough rules that people follow it would be helpful for me to hear them.

Lastly, the cash flow on this property isn't going to be much (after setting aside 5/5/5 for vacancy, repair, and cap expenditures) until I am able to bring the rents up to market rate, so I will be managing this property myself. What have people found to be the best way to collect rent? Mail me a check? Deposit it into a bank account? Other options?

Thanks all! I appreciate any thoughts or feedback that you would like to share. I am really excited about embarking on this new chapter.