Renters' Guide: Tenants, Landlords and Types of Leases

If you want to rent out your property, this article will help you in understanding all the legal formalities and the process of renting.

Rights, Duties and Responsibilities

A landlord is a person who owns real estate property. Landlord rents all or part of its property to another party, called the tenant. A lease establishes the relationship between landlord and tenant and it serves as both a conveyance of a possessory estate in real estate property and a contract between the landlord and tenant. As a tenant, you receive a right to legal possession of the property in exchange for the valuable consideration which is usually called rent, which you pay to the landlord. A lease typically defines the duration of the agreement, all terms and conditions for extending the agreement and details regarding the payment of rent.

A lease paper acts as both a conveyance and a contract. Two sets of rights and duties occur between the landlord and tenant, which are named as the rights and duties that exist in relate to typical property law rules. Those lease papers show all the contractual promises of the lease for both tenant and landlord. Many states have some more legislation, which are designed to protect the rights of residential tenants. Such as the right to fit the housing and privacy, and clauses that show protection of tenants from acts like illegal discrimination and retaliatory evictions. Landlord and tenant laws are depending on location and sate. So, it is important to check state laws with all specific details.

Lease and its types

Lease shows all the terms and conditions set between the tenant and landlord. The amount and type of interest you have in real estate property is called an Estate in Land. Estates are segregated into two main classes:

• Freehold estates: A freehold estate is usually involved in ownership. For example: when you buy a house and it comes under your ownership, it is called freehold state.
• Non-freehold estates: The non-freehold estate is not involved in ownership of the property. For example: renting a property. A non-freehold estate is developed through a lease or rental agreements which can be either written or oral. In non-freehold estate, the landlord possesses ownership of the property, and the tenant has the right to use the property only. As it established in the terms and conditions of the lease or rental agreement. Non-freehold estates are involved in tenants, and they are generally referred to as tenancies.

There are four types of tenancies:

1. Tenancy for Years: A tenancy for years shows a definite time period for the agreement, like one month or one year. The lease waived off automatically at the specified end date without the need of any prior notice by either the landlord or tenant.
2. Tenancy from Period to Period: A tenancy from period to period shows a definite initial time that is automatically renewable unless terminated by either the landlord or tenant. The lease time duration could be week to week, month to month or year to year.
3. Tenancy at Will: Tenancy at will can be waived off instantly whenever notice is given by either tenant or landlord. But, landlords typically provide a reasonable time period for the tenant to vacate the property.
4. Tenancy at Sufferance: A tenancy at sufferance happened when a tenant remains on a property after a lease has been terminated or the agreement has expired. The only difference between a tenant at sufferance and a trespasser is that the former tenant had a right to occupy the property in tenancy at sufferance at some point.

Different Ways to Invest In Real Estate with Less Money or Short Experience

If you want to earn bigger, the best thing you can do is to invest in real estate. However, most of the people come up with excuses and reasons that tend to explain why they are unable to start with real estate fairly quickly. The most common excuses are usually about no money or no experience.

But, it is also true that if you want to receive passive income, you will need to invest in real estate. So, the first thing you will have to do is to stop whining. Secondly, you need to have right attitude. Instead of finding excuses to justify your failures, you will need to look into the ways that can bring you out of the difficult situations. This is the right attitude that can help you to be successful in the field of real estate.

Having that said, it would be worth mentioning that ways you can invest in real estate with no money and less experience.

House hacking

You can start your career in real estate with house hacking. The reason it is effective for newbies is that it is safer than other investment methods. Once you will start receiving passive income, you can think about investing in something bigger. All you will have to do here is to purchase a duplex, triplex or four-plex. You can live in one unit while renting out other units.

There are a few reasons why this way investing your money in real estate is beneficial.

• The first reason is that anyone can qualify for FHA loan.
• Secondly, you will be able to learn a lot about how to be a landlord. When you are living the next door, not a lot tends to go wrong.

Home equity loans

Is the value of your home more than what you owe at the moment? If this is the case, you can get a home equity loan. You can use that loan money to purchase the entire home.

Seller financing

Another quite easier way to invest in real estate is seller financing. It is an amazing way to buy a property which you can use for doing the real estate business. You can purchase the property and pay the price of that property in monthly installments. When the price is fully paid, you will not have to pay anything for it anymore. This way of buying property is particularly helpful for the people who do not have enough money in hand to buy properties.

Contact hard money lenders

Another way to purchase property is to get the purchase financed by hard money lenders. You can find a lot of hard money lenders who give loans for living. They can be expensive so you will have to do the math in order to determine if you are saving something after selling the home and paying all the dues including fees to hard money lenders.