Leasing: Tenant wants your furnished rental property
Admin
Published Date: 2014-06-18
The Tenant Wants Your Property, Now What? Time to Lease.
The 3 step process...
Congrats you found the right property, got it ready, did the right marketing and now a tenant wants your property. Remember this is great news even though new landlords may start to feel overwhelmed and not know which direction to turn at this point. Once again life is all about one step at a time and just knowing where to find the right information is all you need.
- Step one is as simple and doing a casual Q & A with the potential tenant. Really what you are doing is confirming the tenant is legit. Ask questions such as why they're looking to rent your property, who will be staying there and for how long, pets, kids, etc.
- Step two have them complete your paperwork. Once you feel they would be a “fit” for your property, have them complete a formal rental application. There are lots of places to find template applications, contracts and checklists on the internet and in real estate books.
- Step three confirm their details. You’ll also want to protect yourself by running a credit and background checks to verify their credit and eviction history. Read “Making Money with Rental Properties” to learn how to do a credit check on your own and hassle-free.
Details:
Complete lease agreement. You’ll want to create your own lease agreement based on your state and HOA laws. Find Samples in your CHBO Dashboard.
Collect security deposit and/or letter of responsibility. Be sure to collect a security deposit upfront to reserve the property for the tenant or read this article to learn how you can avoid the security deposit altogether. If it’s a corporate renter and his/her company will be paying the bill, you’ll want to send the tenant a Letter of Responsibility to give to his/her company representative for completion. A sample Letter of Responsibility and a template invoice and receipt are available in “Making Money with Rental Properties”. Find Samples in your CHBO Dashboard.
Arrange for key exchange. Many landlords are able to personally welcome someone into the home, while others have lock boxes on the property. Lock boxes should be kept in a safe and well-lit area. There are also keyless entry door locks that require a code and can be changed after each tenant. Also, if you provide a garage door opener, be sure to write down the make, model and code so it can easily be replaced if lost. Record serial numbers of access cards so they can be deactivated by building management if lost or stolen. Read more about keys.
Follow up. Shortly after arrival, be sure to call and check in with tenant to make sure everything is ok. Starting the rental relationship with good communication will establish the foundation for future dialog and rental success through the tenants departure. At the end, inspect the property for damage. If all looks good, promptly return the tenant's deposit. Each state requires security deposits to be returned within a specific timeframe. Yeah, you did it. Congratulations on your first furnished rental. Read more in The Corporate Housing Handbook.
