Rent houses

[PLUSH]

Anyone have any?


I am going to rent my house as we have moved in with my wife at her place as it is right by my work and much better schools. My house is about 40 miles away. Owe too much on it to sale it.

I know I can go to the library or get info online, but was wondering if any brothers do this as an investment. I'm not looking for investment, just want to break even.

 

[Wasch_24]

Small world...we're likely moving soon and were considering renting our house out but now we are considering a land contract sale to our neigbor's kid and her new husband. It may be an option for you but, and for us it is a big but, it might help if you know the people buying the house in that manner.

 

[TravelingJ]

We tried to have 3 different people in our house, and have finally decided to just sell it. If you aren't able to really stay on top of them at every twist and turn, it can quickly become a giant nightmare. We tried people we knew (only took advantage of us) people that came highly recommended by friends (only destroyed our property) and again someone we knew (still waiting on money, and she has been out for months). I know it works well for some people, but overall, we lost less money when it sat vacant, than we did renting it.

 

[AlohaStyle]

Yeah renting out can work, or could become a nightmare. My across the way neighbor rented out his house when his job took him to D.C. and they got a great military family that did more yard work than the owners to keep it looking nice! But the renters just got orders to move out after only being in the house for a few months. So I'm thinking the odds are that a family that doesn't give a crap will come in...

My co-worker invests in a few rentals and overall likes it. He has definitely had his share of bad renters. He also lives close enough to his rentals and works his ass off to keep them nice.

If it were me, I would sell it for a loss if the difference wasn't that big. I personally would rather not have to be stressed out about what's happening to my house or trying to keep finding renters... but that's just me.

Good luck Brian!

 

[Clint]

Just be very careful from a legal standpoint....

Since you still own the home, be absolutely sure that you have a lawyer prepare or approve the documents that are signed by the renter/lesee.

This is critical, as (unfortunately) in this day and age people will seek out and exploit ANY opportunity to sue you for all that you are worth.

Hate to sound scary or pesimistic...Just don't want you to get burned by some ass****.

Best of luck!!

 

[JRL]

There are a lot of people out there who make a hell of a lot of money renting to people. You do have to be careful though.
I work in the property management business and had a friend rent to a couple who took full advantage of them. Ended up staying rent free for months, stole the fridge when they left and left the place a mess. This was a friends son who they knew.
On the other hand there are a lot of people who care and will take care of the place like there own. You just have to find those people.

 

[Alwayslit]

Get a good lease and make sure it covers everything. Always take an application and get a signed release for credit, rental, and employment history. One month deposit and pet deposit is a must. Always inspect your property on a monthly basis that way thing don't get out of hand. Look in the classified ads to get an idea of what kind of rent you can get without the house sitting vacant. Hope this helps and best of success being a landlord and if you have any questions pm me

 

[stogies&hoagies]

I have rental properties. I also hired a local real estate property mgr. They take 10% of the rent and send me a check on the 20th of every month. Any repairs under $200. they handle and deduct from next rent. Bigger repairs they call me for approval.
It works great. I don't get any annoying calls about a stopped drain or such. They do all the background checks and lease signings. I don't worry about bounced checks or damages. They handle it all. I've been using them for almost 20 yrs and they have pretty much kept the properties full the whole time. And one rents for $1095. a month. Which in SC is big money for a house rent.



oh and never, never rent to friends or relatives.

 

[rduke10]

What stogies&hoagies said. If you don't have time to deal with phone calls about EVERYTHING in the house I would suggest finding a property mgr. Just my .02. Did I mention NEVER EVER rent to friends or family. Also, look into the laws for eviction in TX. Where I live it takes 2 or 3 months to get the court order, serve the tenants and give them time to move.

 

[mcroom]

A $10k security deposit would cover any damages and likely get you some good renters. :agreeclen Also look into lease with option to buy. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[L8A]

If you dont have time to deal with it and cant sell it then I would suggest hiring a property management company. They generally charge 10% of the rental amount and have some type of contract term, but they will take care of everything.

 

[t_ron99]

There are many advantages to rental property. But just like any investment, there is risk involved.

I have a rental house and have had great luck with the renters. I also have a property manager that I pay 1 month's rent for every renter she places. Another advantage to a property manager is that they have contacts in the repair industry like handy man, plumber, a/c dude etc. The manager does all the renter initial screening, and I have final say.

If you can afford the risk of paying for repairs, missed rents, etc. it may be a decent deal.

The thing I like most about rental real estate is it's real...you can drive by and look at your investment. There are not many thing that are as real as real estate!

 

[swat253]

I'm completing my first year as a landlord and it's been great so far. I got a great family that really takes care of the place and they pay like clockwork.

Two scenarios I contemplated;

1) Hire a management company and let them find the renters, do all the background checks, credit checks, legal contracts and such, and let them collect the monthly rent for a fee (Usually 8-12% in D-FW area) or;

2) Hire a management company to find the renters, do all the background checks, credit checks, legal contracts and such, and pay them one (1) month's rent as a fee and I handle the day to day calls.

I went with option #2. They did all the legwork, kept the first month's rent and I'm banking the rest. My profit over month 2 & 3 covered their fee and I get 100% of the rent.

In any case,DO get a home warranty for the place. If you get a call about a major problem, you just call the warranty company. I handle anything small and it's working out great. I added a clause in the contract that repeated calls about minor issues, (drains, faucet leaks, light bulbs, etc.) are charged at $50 per occurrence. That will weed out a lot of people that wouldn't take care of your place like it was theirs.

My wife's aunt has a couple of people in her real estate office that do rental property management, and they're in your neck of the woods;Barbara Bentley Remax

Good Luck! It's a solid investment until the market bounces back!

 

[Deemancpa]

I have rental properties. I also hired a local real estate property mgr. They take 10% of the rent and send me a check on the 20th of every month. Any repairs under $200. they handle and deduct from next rent. Bigger repairs they call me for approval.
It works great. I don't get any annoying calls about a stopped drain or such. They do all the background checks and lease signings. I don't worry about bounced checks or damages. They handle it all. I've been using them for almost 20 yrs and they have pretty much kept the properties full the whole time. And one rents for $1095. a month. Which in SC is big money for a house rent.



oh and never, never rent to friends or relatives.

I agree. This was my approach to my Savannah Ga house I bought 6 years ago.

 

[Greyghost]

Some good advice so far but there is a lot more. Consult a professional manager and then decide if you want them to manage it or try it yourself. I manage my own and have been lucky with renters. The one house I have had 20 years and the other 15.

One major thing is make sure you get a $1,000,000 umbrella (liability) policy. Usally one policy will cover your home and rentals. Most policy's are $200 to $350 a year.

 

[kafreeman]

The wife and I are in CO right now as I finish my Masters degree, we are renting our house in Florida. We went through a property management company, they get 10% of the rent and stay on top of things. They drive by weekly to check the yard, make sure everything outside looks good, and take care of getting the house serviced if it needs it. So far its working out well except for crap breaking, but I expected that. They had a very extensive lease, but its easier for them to do this, as theyve already paid the lawyer fees to go over it, and have experience of what needs to be in the lease as well.

They did a credit check, and took first / last / pet deposit to rent the house.

 

[PLUSH]

Yes, it's old. But after a year, my first renter is moving out next month. :disappoin

Kinda scary, as right now is not the time we need lose this.

Hopefully the house is not too bad off. I have been over there several times as I needed to replace some things inside. One main concern I have is it looks like they have not been watering and just about every bush is dead, plus some palm trees in the back.

 

[AlohaStyle]

Sorry to hear Brian, but I guess that's the life of renting out a house. I wouldn't be too stressed about it as I think there are still a lot more renters out there than usual due to the bad housing market.

So what did you end up doing? Are you using a property mgmt company, paying them monthly, one month rent and then you're in charge of issues etc?

I might be considering this myself in the next year and would love to know what you ended up doing...

 

[PLUSH]

I did it all myself. Went rather smoothly. I just used rentals.com to list, think I paid like $90 to list there and their affiliate sites. Used ezlandlordforms.com for all my paperwork. I had about 8 responses within the next 2 weeks. Showed the place like 6 times and pick one. Had a couple of issues at the house, either I called someone to get it fixed, or the renter called a place to get it fix and mailed me the receipt and took it off the rent.

I know (well, pretty sure) it will rent. Just the hassle of getting everything cleaned back up, panted, etc. It is about 40 miles away, so just there is time involved. Did not want to rent, just with market so bad, still owe too much with pool being built in 05.

 

[dpricenator]

Bummer dude. You can advertise it now, on craigslist, and then meet people out there while you are doing some of the work. Wish they had wattered, because bushes suck to dig up. I recomend a chain, a truck and low gear to pull them out. Then the whole for the new bush is already dug for you.