First-Time Property Manager/Landlord

[Tristan Toliver]

Hey Everybody!

After nearly a year of analyzing deals and getting my offers turned down, I recently closed on my first property and will be house-hacking a triplex. The house has one occupied unit and two vacant units. I plan on moving in one of the vacant units while fixing up the third (very light rehab) getting it rented out ASAP and then fixing up the unit that I'll be living in over the course of a year (to satisfy the one year requirement for an owner-occupied loan). After that, I hope to move out of the house and purchase another property to do the same.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, my question is about the occupied unit. Since I will be inheriting tenants, what are things that I should be doing to prepare for that? I have a few items on my list as of now but would like to get other opinions.

My list includes:

• Getting new keys for the units

• Writing a welcome letter that introduces myself as the property manager - not the owner

• Doing an inspection of their unit to see any deferred maintenance that may need to be addressed

• Setting up how they will be paying their rent moving forward - I was thinking of direct deposit but thoughts/suggestions on this would be helpful too

Some info about the tenants if this helps; They are a married couple with 3 kids and two cats. They’ve paid on time every month and their lease ends May 31. From what I've been told, they love where they live and do not plan on leaving which is why I do not want to come in and change too much. So I'll probably include that I will not be increasing the rent in my welcome letter. Just a thought.

What am I missing? Any ideas/suggestions about all of this are welcome. Thank you all in advance!