6 Month Trial Leases
Whats everyone think about doiong a 6 month trial lease? If the tenants are good you then sign them yearly
I am in the process of doing this now and the tenants in a SFH I have are terrible. Id go crazy if I had to deal with them any longer than that. Are there any side effects to this?
I think that the ultimate answer to this is to either do a better job of screening tenants so that you don't have to deal with them for even 6 months or to go with a month-to-month lease and save yourself 4 of the 6 months.
Turnover is the thing I hate most about rentals. I agree that it is better to put a good tenant in there to stay long term than to put someone in there for a short term.
You want to put terms in your lease and establish rules for your rentals. If they violate the lease or rules you can evict them.
I like options. I screen my tenants but also listen to my gut, I then offer them 3 options, for example
Year lease - $550/mo
6 Mon - $575/mo
Mo/Mo - $600/mo
You'll find some people will do the mo/mo, but if you treat them well and have screened them well, they stick around and you've made a little more money each month.
HTH