I told him that the lease cannot be broken.

If you have a property manager for your properties they will typically sign the lease with the tenants, so they would be required to hold the security deposit.

I would either get all the tenants out or have the current owner get leases signed prior to closing.

Follow all the rules, Rent roll, leases and T12.

The rent will need to be a 'fair-market' rent, i.e. is it equivalent to what a non-related party would pay, or a similar rate as other SFR's in the area are charging.Additionally, for further proof of intent as an investment, it is never a bad idea to have a lease agreement with your tenant, whomever they may be.

We have a year left on our lease, so I’m going to keep looking to hopefully find that diamond in the rough.

Here is an article I wrote that is still one of the most frequently emailed articles I receive when investors have questions. 

@Julia Vang Hart Make you to get several bid proposals and consider elements such as: inspections, how late fees are split, vendor mark-ups, and lease renewals.If you need help, please let me know.

Hello I am a new leasing agent pursuing my realtor license located in Chicago, and interested in starting in REI.

Is it smarter to do a 6 month lease to get off winter cycles and then renew 1 year+ starting from spring?