Buying a property with tenant in place

[Kevin Trapani]

I am set to close on a property next Friday. It is a duplex and one side is already rented out. I would like to keep the current tenant but he is currently on a month-to-month deal as he has already been there for 5+ years. With a reliable history of on time payments I don't want to scare him away. 

How do I go about getting him off the previous rental agreement and onto a new one? I would like to try to switch him to 12 month term and potentially up the rent gradually.  Can I reach out to him before I close or should i wait until the property is in my name? Anything else I should be weary of? I don't think I need a new background check given his reliability. 

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

[Sandy Gabin]

I would like to comment on this one.  When I bought my first multi family property,  the owner told me from the beginning that I had to evict the tenants,  because they weren't good tenants.  One tenant would not pay the rent while the 2nd tenant had a bad attitude.  So yes I inherited it the problems that came with it. My mayor fear was going to court,  and I was able to confront both tenants. At the end,  they were out of units. Don't be afraid or feel a little fear when you will be the big boss. Trust me, I was in your shoes. It will be your turn to organize and to set your own rules.  On my end,  I did spend more than a year to fix the units, and I was able to set my rules and did do a month to month contract with all tenants. Where I am from,  apartments are ALWAYS in high demand.