On another forum I was surprised by far the best received was a post I did on Selfstorage and retirement life.

When I bought my owner occupied duplex my agent left a gift basket on the counter as a surprise. $50 Home Depot gift card and a bottle of champagne.

It's supposed to ensure there are no surprises after closing.

By the way, I was surprised at how many messages Airbnb sends, too, not just the host.

The first month full rent hurts the most so if you want to ask for something, I'd probably ask for that to be dropped but wouldn't be surprised if they say no, it is a lot of work to fill a new vacancy. 

Hi @Ellen Feiss I agree with @Ty Coutts that you should start with informal, friendly, face-to-face conversations with the tenants to establish rapport, especially as you have some lead time here before next April.People don't like surprises or having to scramble, so if you are able to let them know your plans in advance, if they are reasonable people they should appreciate the extra lead time.This is especially true if their rents are currently very under market - they will have sticker shock when they look at what other units are renting for, and have to spend more time finding a new unit (if you'll be asking them to leave).If you have to move into one of the units yourself, I'm surprised you (or your lender) didn't make it a condition of the purchase and make the seller have the unit vacant for you.Sooner or later in rental real estate, you will have to establish a relationship with an eviction attorney.

I'm surprised you don't know what the tenants are supposed to pay (e.g. utilities) because that question should have been answered during the purchase process.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

Well done though, fun part with doing business is you can scale it quickly and there's always surprises on the way :)

But I would not be surprised a bit to learn that more than 3 of every 4 Wholesalers may not have survived the major market change that took place in the post-Covid years.