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Originally Posted by zmarkp

rental management companies often post their lease online so you can see how they do it. one good clause I learned to put in the hard way is that if someone sues me and loses I am entitled to compensation of reasonable legal fees. i also did an application requiring their social security number, phone number(s), and previous addresses so I could do a nationwide background check looking for previous evictions and prior convictions. video the premises with a witness prior to move-in. create a detailed 'punch list' listing everything in each room for them to sign as 'ok' or 'not ok' to have a written record of move-in condition. my lease allowed me entry each month to change the filters, which is a good practice plus I got to see inside.

when i started in 1978 my lease was one page long. one year ago my last lease was 18 pages so there's a lot to cover.

the key is always the tenant. if you get a good one your life is golden. if you get a bad tenant your life can turn brown and smelly.

good luck!

You do all that for Monthly Rentals? Wow, I thought I was thorough. Background checks? My main rule is my wife and I spend about 20 minutes on the phone with the tenant before we even send a lease. You can learn a lot more from that than anything. Most people renting in the villages will leave the house better than they found it. You can usually tell the problem ones on an initial phone call - there has only been 2 times in 5 years I decided against it, just got a bad feeling talking to the people. We have really had almost zero problems with renters, a few small stains in the carpet... and we lost a towel or two and a few broken glasses. Other than that, no problems.

For sure get all the money before they move in, don't charge BELOW market rent, and get a security deposit and NEVER waive the cleaning fee.