Owning a home can be the greatest joy. Having a place to call your own, evokes feelings of Joy, satisfaction, and accomplishment. For those with invested the time, energy, and money end to owning their own homes, they appreciate everything that it can mean.
If you’re fortunate enough to own two homes, you become one of the small percentage of Americans able to consider renting out property. And if you do decide to rent out property, there’s an opportunity to make a great and consistent revenue stream for you and your family. But renting out property is a business, and like every business you need to understand the things you need to do for that business to be successful.
So if you’re interested in renting out a home, here are things you need to know and do to prepare that home to be rented.
Take an Inventory of Home and Property
First thing you should do is to take a full inventory of everything in the home and on the property. This includes everything that is in the yard, the backyard, in the garage, and throughout the home. Take pictures of anything you are leaving in the home, so you can be sure that nothing comes up missing later. If anything is broken, take a picture of that so that you and your tenant can agree that it was broken when they rented your property. Take pictures of all the furniture appliances and anything else that you were leaving in the home and make a list of everything and every room of the home. Again any cracks in walls, broken floor tiles, chipped paint, or other things that are not 100% perfect should be noted in pictures and in writing. You want a full understanding in writing of the property that you are prepared to rent. When you are signing the rental agreement, you need to show the pictures and your notes to the renter and have this person sign off that this is in fact the state of the property and the inventory of things contained in it. This will avoid any differences of opinion that may result and turn into a dispute later.
Clean up the property
Make sure that the property is clean and well maintained. Even an older home looks great if it is clean and clutter is removed. Any exterior or interior parts of the home that need painting, or plastering should be done before you attempt to rent the home. Fixing these things will allow you to charge a higher rental price for your property. Cutting the grass and trimming bushes in the yard will have the same effect. If you intend to offer your home as partially or fully furnished, tae pictures and remove anything that is expensive or delicate. Renters will not take care of your stuff the way that you do, so do not put nice stuff in the rental.
Make Sure You Have the Right Insurance
Your homeowner insurance will not cover you renting out your property. For this purpose you need to get a special policy that covers you as a landlord. Call a local insurance broker and understand the types of insurance coverage you will need, and get strong policies to protect you. This expense can save you lots of money and even bankruptcy. So make sure you get a comprehensive policy that includes any potential liabilities.
Hire a Property Management Company that also does Property Rental
Managing renters is a tough job. Some are perfect and never cause a problem, while others cause problems all the time. It is impossible to tell which type of renter you have until after the person has signed rental agreement and is in your property. In other words you might have nightmare tenants. This is why it’s a great idea to hire a property management company that will also list your property for rent. They have experience in listing properties and then renting to and managing tenants. They have seen every type of tenant and understand how to manage each type. They will also more than likely get you a higher rental fee then you could on your own.