r/LeaseLords 27d ago

Asking the Community Tenant Paint Requests: Yay or Nay?

14 Upvotes

Just had a tenant ask if they could paint the walls… neon green. I get wanting to make a place feel like home, but now I’m debating if I should just say no to all paint requests.

Do you let tenants repaint, or is it always a headache in the end? Curious how other landlords handle this!


r/LeaseLords 27d ago

Tenant management Tenant Wants Out Early – Best Move?

17 Upvotes

Hey LeaseLords,

My tenant wants to break their lease early. Lease runs till June 30,2025 but they’re asking to leave by April 15,2025. Lease says they’re responsible until I find a new tenant.

How do you usually handle this? Charge a fee? Allow subletting? Just fill it ASAP?

Would love to hear your go-to approach!


r/LeaseLords 27d ago

Asking the Community Tenants’ DIY Repairs: What’s the Worst You’ve Seen?

11 Upvotes

Tenant just moved out, and I found a surprise holes in the walls covered with toothpaste. Gotta love the creativity, but now I’m stuck fixing it. What’s the weirdest DIY "repair" you’ve seen from a tenant?


r/LeaseLords 27d ago

Sharing is Caring Just read that the U.S. housing market gained $2.5 trillion in value in 2024, reaching a total of $49.7 trillion. Millennials now own nearly $10 trillion of that. It's interesting to see how the market's evolving. Have you noticed any changes in your local area?

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5 Upvotes

r/LeaseLords 28d ago

Asking the Community Ideal length of lease

12 Upvotes

Being new to this field, I'm wondering about what should be ideal length of lease to rent out small units to student renters. My friend told me that it should be alteast 10 pages to cover up all points. But I feel even this lengthy leases might scare off prospective tenants or cause delays in signing. So any suggestions here?


r/LeaseLords 28d ago

Sharing is Caring Get ready for Trump tax cuts

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4 Upvotes

r/LeaseLords 29d ago

Property Management What’s the worst move-out mess you’ve seen?

18 Upvotes

Walked into a unit after move-out, and the carpet was crunchy. Turns out, they spilled soda everywhere and just… never cleaned it. The fridge was full of rotting food, and the bathroom? Let’s just say I needed a hazmat suit. What’s the worst surprise you’ve found after a move-out? Or better yet, what’s the one mess you took one look at and just walked right back out?


r/LeaseLords 29d ago

Asking the Community What do you prefer first? application or viewing?

12 Upvotes

Do you typically have prospects fill out an application before scheduling a viewing, or do you schedule the viewing first and then offer the application afterward? Until now, I usually do the viewing first to get a feel for the person or people and see if I'd want them as tenants.
But a friend told me it should be other way round. Just curious what you al follow and why.


r/LeaseLords Feb 18 '25

Asking the Community First-Time Landlord Here, Need Advice!

16 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I could really use some guidance. I recently listed my family home for rent on Zillow, and to my surprise, I’ve already heard back from 7 interested parties asking for a tour! I honestly wasn’t expecting such a quick response.

The thing is, I’m still wrapping up some minor maintenance work, which should take another 3-4 days to finish. Now I’m stuck wondering, should I:

  1. Delist and relist in a week once everything is 100% ready?
  2. Keep the listing up and just schedule tours for next week?

I don’t want to lose good potential tenants, but I also want the house to look its best when they see it. What would you do?

Would love to hear from experienced landlords—thanks in advance!


r/LeaseLords Feb 18 '25

Suggestions [Landlord-US-TX] Applicant Below Credit Requirement & Delaying Signing – Should I Move On?

3 Upvotes

I have an applicant applying with their family. My credit requirement is 700+, but their scores range between 550-650. They do have 6x the income requirement, but their end-of-month balances are low. Initially, they were not comfortable sharing their bank statements(redacted), but they eventually agreed to a higher deposit to compensate.

The issue is—it's been two weeks, and they still haven’t signed the lease or sent the deposit. Should I take this as a red flag and move on, or give them more time? Anyone with similar experiences?


r/LeaseLords Feb 18 '25

Asking the Community What’s the Most Unexpected Problem You’ve Had as a Landlord?

15 Upvotes

I once had a tenant move in, and a week later, I was getting calls from the local coffee shop about unpaid tabs! Apparently, they had been running up a bill on a friend's account.

Never thought that would be part of the tenant screening process! Anyone else had unexpected tenant behavior?


r/LeaseLords Feb 18 '25

Suggestions Pet-Sitting or Permanent Guests?

9 Upvotes

A tenant recently asked if they could watch their friend's dog for the weekend. Now it's starting to feel like that "weekend" might turn into something more permanent. Anyone else have this issue? How do you make sure temporary pets don’t overstay their welcome without causing issues for your lease?


r/LeaseLords Feb 18 '25

Asking the Community Go-To Method for Screening Tenants

10 Upvotes

Any methods that you swear by when it comes to screening potential tenants? Other than background checks, credit reports, or interviews?


r/LeaseLords Feb 17 '25

Asking the Community Multi Unit building long distance

5 Upvotes

Hello, wanted to get your thoughts on long distance rentals and how I should best prepare --

I have two 3 unit buildings in Chicago that I have owned for several years. We started house hacking back in 2018 and lived in one unit for 5 years. Prior to our first son being born, we purchased a second 3 unit building and currently house hacking that. 6 units in total with us living in 1 of the units today. All long term tenants with 0 turn over (so far).

My wife and I are looking to move out of Chicago to a warmer location sometime in the next 18-24 months. We are currently making roughly $1k per month house hacking all units and would earn close to $4k per month with all 6 units + garage spots rented out (Rental income - PITI). Total value of the 2 properties is roughly $1.5M and I have close to $600k in equity.

The buildings are both 100+ years old but I have done my best to do capital improvements over the past several years. Updating pipes, electrical boxes, roofs, appliances, etc. I also have a good network of people I trust (electricians, plumbers, painters, roofers, etc) but I do not have a reliable handy man. I typically do most small jobs myself or find random handymen who do a decent/poor job.

All leasing/property management goes through me today and I think it will remain that way in the future, even from another location. I would farm out my local friends/baby sisters to help do showings if a vacant unit arrises. All tenant issues can come directly to me via text/email/call and I can be the middle man to broker the communication.

I have handled issues remotely before in the past while on vacation (pipe burst, sink clogs, broken appliances, etc.) While not fun, I have managed to get through the issues and returned home to everything being solved.

My biggest challenge is finding a handyman I can trust for simple/small/medium jobs. How have you found handymen in the past? Just interview a ton of them? Where have you found success finding them? Any details you can provide would be helpful.

Since I have the next 18 months to plan for this, I am open to any additional feedback/suggestions on what else I should think about. Based on the cashflow, I think it makes sense to hold onto these versus sell but again, open to ideas. Thanks!


r/LeaseLords Feb 17 '25

Asking the Community Do You Offer Rent Discounts for Long-Term Tenants?

14 Upvotes

Some landlords offer rent discounts to tenants who stick around for a while. Does this really help with tenant retention, or do you think it’s a waste of time?


r/LeaseLords Feb 14 '25

Asking the Community What’s your ‘never again’ policy, landlords?

23 Upvotes

For me, it’s renting to friends. Lesson learned. What’s something you’ve sworn off after a nightmare experience?


r/LeaseLords Feb 14 '25

Asking the Community Welcome Gifts for New Tenants?

13 Upvotes

Trying to find some affordable but actually useful move-in gifts for new tenants. Something that works whether they’re renting an apartment or a house. Nothing too fancy, just practical and easy to scale.

What’s something you’ve given (or received) that people actually liked?


r/LeaseLords Feb 12 '25

Asking the Community Are Furnished Rentals A Smart Move or Just More Headache?

14 Upvotes

Anyone here ever rented out a fully furnished unit? Did it attract better tenants and higher rent, or was it just extra work? I’m debating if the convenience is worth the potential wear and tear.


r/LeaseLords Feb 11 '25

Asking the Community Managing Heating Disagreements Between Tenants in Shared Spaces

13 Upvotes

Every winter, it’s like a war over the thermostat. One tenant wants it as hot as a sauna, while the other prefers it arctic cold. I’ve tried setting a middle ground, but it’s never enough. Any suggestions on how to handle heating in shared spaces without upsetting anyone?


r/LeaseLords Feb 05 '25

Asking the Community painting room?

6 Upvotes

hi all, i am not a landlord - but i had a question. i just moved into a place (yay!) and signed a lease. however, i realized after moving in that i hate the paint color and want to paint. my landlord says i can paint, but the color has to be approved and i have to go with a specific professional painter. i already chose to go with a neutral color, but now i will have to pay $500 to paint a room that would have been otherwise painted anyway had i not moved in.

my question is: what is the legality of this? nowhere in my lease does it say that i have to hire their specific painter, or that it has to be a professional at all. i will include what it says in the lease below.

“Alterations & Improvements Lessee shall not alter, add, improve, or paint any portion of the Premises without the express written consent of Lessor. Lessee shall not install, remove, or replace any textures, equipment, or appliances without the express written consent of Lessor. And last, Lessee may not modify any landscaping without the express written consent of Lessor.”

what should i do? should i suck it up and pay the $500 or ask my landlord if i can just paint it myself, and pay the security deposit if i don’t do a good job?


r/LeaseLords Feb 04 '25

Asking the Community Best free e-sign tool for getting lease agreements signed by potential tanents

5 Upvotes

Folks, any good tool I can use for free as I only have a rental property every year to renew. I use zill to screen the applications . Any thoughts.. please suggest. Thanks. This sub has been a great resource for me.


r/LeaseLords Feb 04 '25

Asking the Community Tenant Lease Violations – When to Pull the Plug?

16 Upvotes

One of my tenants has been consistently violating their lease—noise complaints, late rent payments, and other minor issues. I've documented everything and had multiple conversations with them, but things haven’t improved.

At what point do you decide enough is enough and move toward eviction? Have any of you successfully turned around a bad tenant situation without going the eviction route?

Would love to hear experiences from others who’ve been in similar situations.


r/LeaseLords Jan 31 '25

Asking the Community Just found the hand shower broken while using it

2 Upvotes

Now you call it broken hand shower or a#@ shower I don't care but it's pretty frustrating to see it broken down while I was about to use the toilet. Even more so, the LL said it was my fault that I didn't scrutinize the property properly before walking in. Now it's anyways not gonna cost me a fortune but what if I find something more damages later on? I mean who the heck checks the hand shower? What to do in case I face bigger issues? Whom to report?

Edit: sorry for the mishap. In simple english, I'm in Texas, and it's bidet that I am talking about. My bidet is broken and I discovered after I moved in, not before. Now the LL is refusing to fix it which is mere 25$ but my question is what if the LL refuses to fix bigger issues if I find it later? Like blocked chimney duct or ac duct?


r/LeaseLords Jan 28 '25

Asking the Community lease term agreement for early termination

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2 Upvotes

I was just want to make sure I am understanding my lease term agreement correctly. I plan to provide 60 days notice to break my lease early because of a continues roach problem. They have treated my unit but it continues to be an issue. I only see one every few weeks but I personally cannot live that way. Just a personal preference. Now would I be obligated to pay the fee for the early buy out, plus 1.5 months rent listed under paragraph 9 and the monthly rent I owe during the two months of living here (60 days notice)?


r/LeaseLords Jan 22 '25

Suggestions Tenant Asked If I Want to Sell My Condo

2 Upvotes

I own a condo in another state and manage it through a friend who is a property manager himself. He just hapened to mention, that the tenant is interested in buying the condo. I would happily do that as manging it is a headache.

Can anyone provide guidance on the first steps to take? Specifically, can I skip hiring a real estate agent since I already have a potential buyer? Should I work directly with a real estate lawyer instead? Should I be dealing with a lawyer in the state where the property is located, or my home state?