In this article, I will be discussing with you the move-in process. After you have put together your lease form, you are now ready to exchange that lease with a tenant. You want to make sure that this process goes as smooth as possible in a way that there's less confusion, more certainty, and zero risks on your part. 

On this topic, several questions arise:

1. What are practical ways to handle the lease signing process?

2. What is a good way to present the unsigned lease to the tenant?

3. Why is it sound to give your prospective tenant a 24-hour period to go through the lease before he/she signs it?

4. Do you need the original copy of the lease?

Let's talk about the first of these 4 questions. What are practical ways to handle the lease signing process?

The lease signing process is quite a tricky stage in a landlord-tenant relationship since a tenant is technically "free" to sign a different lease. Your job is to "cement" that relationship and have that lease signed so you can move on to the next part in renting out your property. 

Below are some of the best tips you can follow when getting the lease form signed:

• Fully execute lease.This means that ALL PARTIES on both sides - not just 1 tenant representative, but all tenants if you have more than 1 tenant renting your unit. 
• After the tenant hands you back the lease that he/she just signed, it is your turn to countersign or counter initial on each page. Now you have a fully executed lease. You can produce copies of the signed lease and send a copy back to the tenant by fax, email, or in person. 
• Make sure that you collect the deposit and first month’s rent in cashier check format (to avoid bad checks). 
• Schedule an appointment for the move-in inspection ideally the afternoon before or 2 days before the move-in day. This is to ensure that tenants are not in a hurry and are relaxed when doing the move-in walk-through inspection with you. 

For the rest of this lesson, existing Landlord Prep students should log-in to the module entitled Between Tenants - New Lease Contract - Lease Signing Process.

Not a member yet? Join the Landlord Prep: Video E-Course and How-To Tutorials so you can access this section and the complete DIY landlording course. This will help you stay knowledgeable and confident as a landlord.