One of the questions we see on the BiggerPockets forums over and over again is, “Where do I find a good lease document?”
When people ask that question, they really don’t mean that they want a good lease document. What they mean is they want a free lease document.
The truth is that leases are really the most important investment you’ll make when starting your career as a self-managing real estate investor. The free leases that self-managers share are likely to be the most expensive option you’ll find in the long run.
By the way, a BiggerPockets Pro Membership gives you access to unlimited attorney-approved lease documents for every U.S. state.
Why Is a Good Lease Important?
The good news is that the ROI on an excellent lease is huge. The bad news is that you can’t measure it, which is likely why many new investors don’t want to spend any money on a lease, but that is a huge mistake that can have disastrous consequences.
Think of it this way: If you are finally pulling the trigger on your first deal, you’ve likely spent hundreds, maybe thousands of hours learning, researching, walking, and underwriting properties. When you get to the point that you are ready to rent it out, the lease is the only thing you have protecting your rights and property as an owner.
Is this really the time to cut corners? Are you really going to trust your entire life savings to something that popped up on a subreddit in your Google search?
And please don’t fall for the “more is better” fallacy when it comes to leases. There’s that guy your aunt’s hairdresser’s neighbor knows who owns four rental properties and has been doing it for 30 years, and he’s “seen everything.” Heck, he is so experienced that his lease is 28 pages long and filled with clauses like “tenant cannot use the garage to manufacture large quantities of illegal drugs for sale on the black market.”
There are already laws in place to protect…