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Legal Rental
You (or your agent) should verify that all units are legal, both as to zoning and to building codes.
Licenses & Permits
Depending upon the city, county, and/or state in which the property is located, it is possible that a variety of licenses and/or permits might be required for rental properties.
Some locations have a rental tax at the city, county, or state level, some at two or even all three levels.
Documentation
You should be sure that you are provided copies of all leases and other documents, including amendments, checklists, and house rules.
Financial Records
Your purchase contract should require that the seller provide financial records that show income and expenses for at least the past 12 months.
Physical Inspections
While one should be concerned about physical inspections when purchasing a personal residence, it is often of greater importance when purchasing income property. There are several reasons why this is so.
Environmental
This is another subject that is seldom of much concern for a personal residence, but can be important for income properties, particularly commercial properties.
Estoppel Certificates
Although often not utilized unless required by the lender, as they usually are for larger properties, estoppel certificates should be used for every purchase of a tenant occupied property. A sample basic Certificate is available in our members-only Forms Web .
Insurance
Before committing to purchasing a property, be sure that you will be able to obtain the required insurance. Premiums can easily turn out to be a significant operating expense and need to be taken into consideration when analyzing the property. Worse yet, it is possible that a particular property and /or landlord will turn out to be uninsurable.
A property may be rejected for a variety of reasons and investors might be turned down for insurance for various reasons .
The types and amounts of insurance coverages the landlord buys must also be based on the requirements of the lender.
While the lender will usually require that insurance be in place prior to closing, if you are buying with seller financing or cash you may not be reminded.
Holding Title
It is extremely important to give serious thought to the potential liabilities associated with owning rental properties and to take the necessary steps to minimize your risks. There are dozens of ways in which it is possible to lose your entire net worth if ownership is not properly vested.
Pre-Closing Statement
As for any real estate transaction, you should be sure that you check over the pre-closing statement. There are a number of things that you should look out for that are not usually of concern when buying a personal residence.
Transfer of Services
Discontinuance of utilities or other services by the seller before you have them turned on in your name can create havoc with your relations with your newly-acquired tenants.
There may be services other than utilities that must be considered , particularly for commercial properties .
After Closing
Check the closing statement carefully. If you are buying pre-1978 residential property and the seller did not have required lead paint disclosure documents for each tenant, get them executed immediately.
Summary & Conclusion
When buying rental property, there are a number issues that you should be concerned about if you wish to avoid problems both during escrow and after close of escrow. Most of these issues should be properly written into your purchase offer.
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