How can I protect myself and my tenants

[RitaJune]

What is the name of your state? Missouri.
My husband passed away in 2002. I have since moved from our old house. I just left it as it was. Cats have gotten in & done damage, windows are broken, etc.. A couple I know would like to move in & do repairs & cleanup in exchange for 3 months rent. After that 3 months I would like for them to pay $250 a month for 9 months then go to $450 a month. Any & all of my belongings are to be put into a single room of the house for storage until I can go through it. Also, after the first year I would like to sell. They know all of this & are willing. I would want it in writing that I would not be responsible for paying for any repairs. I would also want it in writing that after the first year and I put it up for sale, I would give them one month to move out in the event that it sells.
Can we do this legally & is there a prewritten legal document for anything like this?
Thaks so much,
Rita

 

[Warped]

I'm not a lawyer!

I know this sounds like a good deal all around to you but trust me, it isn't! You would do better to move your personal items to a self storage facility and hire a contractor to repair the house and then sell it. You can ask the contractor who repairs the house if they would be willing to enter into a contract to wait until you sell to get their money. Either way you choose to go, hire a lawyer to draw up any contract. It's cheap insurance!

 

[Mister Darcy]

I'm not a lawyer!

I know this sounds like a good deal all around to you but trust me, it isn't! You would do better to move your personal items to a self storage facility and hire a contractor to repair the house and then sell it. You can ask the contractor who repairs the house if they would be willing to enter into a contract to wait until you sell to get their money. Either way you choose to go, hire a lawyer to draw up any contract. It's cheap insurance!

Very good advice, but I'd be very leery about a contractor who would agree to wait to be paid. A good business man would not want to have such a drop in cash flow, especially when he has to pay sub contractors. Maybe you could find a contractor who would just like to buy your house as is and fix it up on spec. Whatever you do, do as Warped says and hire a lawyer.