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Updated almost 14 years ago on . Most recent reply
First property tenant in place? questions
Ok so I am closing on my first property by next week and have alot of questions regarding the tenant who is living upstairs. They have been there for 7 years and pay 625 (rent is 725 but does "maintence" on the property so he saves 100) a month which I believe is under the market by $50. They are on a month to month lease so I can write my own lease now once I close.
First the seller is going to give me his security deposit? Is that something that is allowed or should I allow him to return it to the tenant and then he can give me the deposit himself and start over?
How should I go about getting the rent higher to market value or should i?
Also what exactly is this maintenance that he does? would it involve he is responsible for mowing the lawn, shoveling etc. ? Is this something you typically have one of your tenants do in your multi'families or not?
He also has some of his kids shoes, toys in the attic. To my understanding I should tell him that needs to be clear or charge him a storage space a month?
Also the same is with the garage he has tools etc. in there but I can either make that another charge or if not rent it to someone who wants to store their car?
Still nervous about actually being a landlord but also excited that I am taking on a new experience. I have done a bunch of research but still is a little intimating when you have an existing tenant instead of new ones thanks in advance!
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Ask the seller for copies of checks (payments) for the past 12 months (at least) to make sure the tenant is up to date. The tenant can easily be 2 months behind and the seller will conveniently forget to let you know.
Review a lease to find out about the maintenance obligations. If it's not in the lease, you might have problems enforcing the guy to do the maintenance, but the discounted rent you will have to honor.
Close in the beginning of the month so the seller will have to give you credit for rent at closing (rent is due on the 1st, close on the 5th and have title company credit you for 25 days of pre-paid rent -- it shouldn't be your problem that the rent hasn't been paid on time, make it the seller's problem to collect it).
Might be that the seller is getting rid of the headache, so you need to be prepared.