I have a 100 space park in Ohio with 55 paying residents. We used to have 20 vacant homes but have renovated 10 of them (one by one painfully with me fronting the money). We still have 10 homes that need to be renovated. I have, in the past, let people renovate by giving them 30 - 60 days of free rent and a deadline (without a lease) but unless they had professionals doing the work it never got done. So now I am having them sign a lease with move in fees (1st month, last month + deposit) to begin work.
My question is do you guys give them free rent while they renovate? The applicant (who has already passed a background check etc) says it will take him 6 weeks to fix all health & safety issues (we give him a list of issues). He cannot move in until that work is done. Not sure if I should give him 4 weeks or 6. If he is successful then the place gets fixed up with no money out of my pocket.
Any thoughts?