@Nick Diecidue you can always ask the seller to deliver the units vacant upon closing (that's if you haven't signed a P&S yet).What I would do is buy the property, and right away have the tenants fill out a rental application, apply that information into a 3 month lease, and deliver a notice of non-renewal 45 days in advance.

Most real estate lawyers will have a standard document that just needs to be filled in.

> do I just fill out some change-of-ownership form with the county?

I'm looking at a multi-family property and one of the closing conditions for the bank to approve the loan is an environmental form that they want the seller to fill out.The seller says that he would open himself to liability if he filled the form out and hence doesn't want to fill it out.The seller and his agent are very difficult to deal with (rude, abrupt, and generally uncooperative) and the only reason I'm pursuing it is because the numbers look good and it's a strong property.The bank says the only alternative to the form being filled out is to have an expensive Phase I environmental assessment done.Are there any other alternatives to this?

There is a one page form to fill out and $300 to pay to the state and it is done.

Throw an ad on craigslist and Zillow and see what you get, if you find people are interested then show them the property and have them fill out a rental application.

Plus if you do a background check you can just have prospective tenants fill it all out through the site and it will keep it simple and all in one place.

They came occupied, and I’ve only had to fill a vacancy once (and that tenant is now multi-year tenant).

Bad things happen to Good people everyday, I offer practical experience credit advice to those who want to listen, I had one renter that rented from me for 4 years, rebuilding her credit, She had me fill out forms for financial institutions about her rental history, last fall she Qualified for her first home , I couldn't have been happier for her.

But if the apartment complex has great amenities AND a cheaper price, it might affect your ability to attract tenants until it fills up.