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First rental property checklist: before and after closing

DoorKeeping team

3 min read

Before closing, confirm the numbers, order an inspection, line up landlord insurance and decide who owns the property. After closing, change the locks, set up a separate account and books, photograph the unit, finish repairs, and then write the lease. Doing the money and paperwork steps first keeps the first tenant's move-in simple.

Before you close

  • Run your own numbers: expected rent, property tax, insurance, repairs, vacancy and any HOA dues. See the pro forma guide.
  • Get an inspection, and ask what is likely to need replacing in the first three years: roof, water heater, heating and cooling, plumbing.
  • Ask your lender whether they know the home will be a rental. Loan terms differ for rentals and for owner occupied homes.
  • Get an insurance quote for a rental policy, not a homeowners policy.
  • Decide how title will be held. If you are thinking about an LLC, read the LLC guide and ask your own attorney first.
  • Check city and state rules: rental registration, inspections, lead paint for homes built before 1978.

Do not skip the reserve. Set aside cash for the first month or two of surprises, separate from the down payment.

In the first week after closing

  1. Change or rekey every lock and note who has keys.
  2. Open a separate bank account for the property and run all rent and expenses through it.
  3. Save the closing statement, the inspection report and the insurance policy in one folder.
  4. Photograph every room, appliance and meter with the date, before anyone moves in.
  5. Test every smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm your state requires.

Get it ready to rent

Fix safety items first, then anything that would stop a showing: a leak, a broken lock, no hot water. Cosmetic work comes last. The IRS treats repairs that keep a property in good working condition differently from improvements that add value, and the improvements are depreciated, so keep each invoice with a note on what was done.

If the home was built before 1978, prepare the lead paint pamphlet and disclosure form now. The EPA says you give them to the renter before the lease is signed and keep a signed copy for three years.

Before the first tenant signs

Write your screening rules down: the income you ask for, what you check, and what makes you say no. Apply the same rules to every applicant, because fair housing law bars different terms because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin. Then write the lease and get your state's required disclosures into it.

Example a made-up owner closes on a $200,000 home and keeps $6,000 in reserve. A furnace repair of $1,800 in month two comes from the reserve and is recorded against the property, so the monthly rent is not touched and the repair is already filed at tax time.

Mistakes first time owners make

  • Skipping the inspection to win the deal, then paying for the roof or the plumbing out of the first year's rent.
  • Leaving the home on a homeowners policy after a tenant moves in.
  • Handing over keys before the lease is signed and the first payment is in.
  • Paying for rental expenses from a personal account, so the year ends with a pile of receipts to sort.

Each of these is cheap to avoid in the first month and expensive to fix in the second year. A short written list kept in your folder is enough: read it before closing, and again before the first showing. If you are unsure about any step, ask your lender, insurer or tax preparer before the deadline, not after it.

How DoorKeeping handles it

Once the property is added, DoorKeeping keeps its own ledger, matches bank feed deposits to the right tenant and files the lease, the photos and the invoices under the property. You can ask Claude or ChatGPT, for example, "What documents and photos are on file for the Maple Street house?" and approve anything it drafts before it goes out.

Tenants pay rent to your own bank account by bank transfer, free from DoorKeeping, and DoorKeeping marks rent paid when the deposit matches.

Sources

  1. Real estate disclosure of lead-based paint, EPA, read Oct 30, 2026
  2. 42 U.S. Code 3604, Discrimination in the sale or rental of housing, Cornell Law School, read Oct 30, 2026
  3. Topic no. 414, Rental income and expenses, IRS, read Oct 30, 2026
  4. What is landlord insurance?, Progressive, read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

What should I do first after buying a rental?
Rekey the locks, open a separate bank account, photograph the unit and confirm your rental insurance is active.
Should I set aside a reserve for a rental?
Yes. Surprise repairs and an empty month are normal, so keep cash for them apart from your down payment.
When do I write the lease?
After repairs are done and your screening rules are written, and before you hand over keys.

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