Ready to rent this weekend, or is it?

[Patrick Bavaro]

My wife and I are finally taking the first step in our real estate journey in the form of house-hacking. We are near done, but have a whole house window project that is in motion to upgrade the 1970's windows in our primary Florida residence to a more efficient, hurricane impact window. We are at a place where the efficiency is complete (touchup clean-up, photos, listing, etc. to take place this weekend), but had our contractor over this morning to let us know the windows will be ready to be installed in 4-6 weeks. There are only 3 windows in the efficiency (the door is already impact), and the contractor expects 1-2 days for install of those 3 windows. 

The question is, being a soon to be new landord, how does one handle a possible situation like this where the room a future tenant will be in has the chance to be unoccupied for a full day, possibly two? The wife and I thought either getting them a hotel room, or offering a spare bedroom in the main part of the house would be acceptable. Are there any laws or concerns I should be aware of? Or is it better to just hold off until those windows are installed? An efficiency here in South Florida in the area we are living, on average collects between $700-$900/mo depending on recent upgrades. We are expecting to be within the $800-$900 range, and a two night stay in a hotel will put us out an estimated $400. That said, we look at this efficiency as extra money, not money that we absolutely need to pay the bills. 

Thanks for your time! 

[Tyler Weaver]

A contractor should be able to install 3 windows in an occupied space without disrupting the tenant too much. Definitely don't let them leave a window half completed overnight. Have them do one at a time.