Simple (or simpler) Rental Agreement

[Bear Geiger]

We are buying our first rental property (single family home) in North Carolina.  I went looking in the Pro section under Landlord forms and found a tenant agreement.  It was 30 pages long for NC. Is this REALLY necessary?  Just trying to protect my investment without overloading my tenants.

ALSO - Is there any language that can be included that will protect us from the eviction moratorium?   

[Corby Goade]

This is where many new investors have a blind spot. I assume you've spend months, if not years researching and preparing to buy an investment property? Your due dilligence shouldn't stop at the closing table. I wouldn't use any of the boilerplate docs on the BP pages- not because they are inherently "bad" but because you just don't know if they are, which is why you are here asking the question!

Easiest solution to this problem and it's guaranteed to make your life easy and you will sleep well at night; get a few reccomendations for a local real estate attorney. Pay a couple hundred bucks for a consult so you can have a face to face, ask them your questions and get the lease they use in their office. You know that it's a valid lease, and if worse comes to worse, you have a pro that will defend that lease in court. If you use the BP one and call up a local attorney when you actually have a problem, you'll have a hill to climb. Paying for that lease and relationship up front could save you thousands on the back end. 

You could always hire a PM and let them do their thing as well. 

Best of luck!