All Forum Posts by: Prashant P.

Could you provide some more information.

1. Did your sister provide a written notice that she was moving out of the house on a certain date.

2. Was there any wriiten proof that the lease in place would be terminated.

OR

was this a verbal aggreement?

Besides liability issues, I do not think it is worth the time to contact previous landlords.

You never know what is going through the mind of the previous or current landlord. Maybe the current landlord wants the person out of his/her house and tells you they are a great tenant. Or a previous landlord might say they were a great tenant but never dealt with the tenants personally, maybe a handyman or work cared for the tenants.

I think a better judgement is length of stay at a property, income, and background checks.

I think it depends on your tenant. Most landlords will have some interaction with their tenant at the subject property before listing it on the market (ie. repairs, collecting rent).

If the tenant is a slob then you most likely don't want to show the place.

On the other hand a tenant that is neat and has taken the time to decorate their apartment it is great. It is like staging. It helps a prospective tenant to visualize them in the property.

I was in your shoes a few years ago. You are an engineering major so you first job is going to pay well. I would do the following:

1. Stay with your parents for a few months until you have some money saved up for a downpayment or borrow some money from your parents.

2. By a duplex and live in one unit and rent the other. OR buy a house with three or four bedrooms in an area where young professionals like to live. Then live in one room and rent out the others.

Since you are a first time home buyer you can qualify for some good loans.

Hey Adam,

I think you have to start off the new year by pulling the trigger. There is only so much you can read and learn but without actually doing a deal you really aren't going to learn anything.

If I were you, I would purchase a single family house or duplex in a good rental market. This will get you started into investing and teach you how to analyze a property, make a deal and be a landlord.

If you don't have time to manage the property, hire a managment company. I would manage a property just to know what it feels like to deal with tenants

Like Marc said there should be language in your lease that allows you to enter the property with 24 hours notice.

As long as you are with the prosepective tenant you should be alright.

What does it say in your lease?

Your lease should include a section stating what happens if the tenant breaks the lease.

For example my lease states that the tenant must provide 30 days notice before vacating the property in the middle of the lease term. They are subject to the loss of their security deposit and must pay two months rent.

If I were you, I would try to purchase a single family house and rent it out. This will solve two problems. One you are investing and second you are gaining expierence.

From managing your own property you will learn how to market your property, screen tenants and deal with tenant issues. From reading this forum you can see that tenant issues are sometimes very wierd and something you can read in a book.

If this is your first lease, I would not recommend that you write it yourself. There is alot of legal items that will cover you that you did not mention.

Like someone else mentioned, try to gather some leases from the area. I copied a lease from an apartment that one of my friends rented from a major corparation.

The best thing to do have a real estate attorney draft a lease for you. You pay him once and the next time you can just copy it.

I have not a rehab but I am considering one like yourself. The one thing I have learned is to do check out the house in person.

Pictures can be taken at many angles, so you might not see leaking the cieling or a moldy wall.