Doubling rents without loosing tenants?

[Dwight Cook]

Hey everyone!

I'm currently in the process of purchasing my first property. This is a fully occupied 4 unit property in good condition. Each unit is a 2 bed 1 bath around 1,000 SQFT each. The current tenants are paying $400, $470, $630, $630. This area's market rents are around $750-$800. The tenant paying $470 has been there for 30 years, the one paying $400 has been there for 11 years and is a family member of the current owner. (that's why theirs is so low)the other two have been in the units for less than 2 years. 3 of these units are month to month. The 11-year tenant is currently in a 1-year lease.

At the current rents, I will be just above breaking even. How do I get the rents to market value so I can turn this into a good cash-flowing property without portraying myself as a horrible new landlord? There are some small improvements I plan on making, replacing a carpet, fixing a crack in a window but nothing major.

I am thinking about offering each tenant two options. 1 year leases for $700 or month to month for $750. But I fear this may be too big of a jump for the long-term tenants.