I know I've wrote something on this before, I just don't remember where. Comes with middle age I guess, just like all the pretty young girls calling me sir now. Anyway.

Got an email from a young lady today I thought I'd write a short post about. She told me she was in a real pinch to find a place to live as she had only ten days to vacate her current apartment. She went on to explain that her landlord sold the condo, and therefore was putting her out.

Walking the fine line between legal advice and trying to help out, I asked her some questions I already knew the answer to. Turns out she approached the owner on her own, signed the owners home-made version of a lease agreement with no protections built in for herself. Now she's stuck.

If she'd had a little FREE help from a licensed real estate agent, using the proper forms, she wouldn't be in this predicament. I know a lot of people know someone that knows someone that has a nice place for rent, and it's only natural for the owners to want to go direct with a prospective tenant, because frankly they don't want to pay commissions to agents. Use a REALTOR® folks. As a buyer or tenant, it doesn't cost you a dime.