I've got a house ready to rent. 2200 sq ft, three bdr, full basement, 1&1/2 baths. Just spent about 15K on laminate floors throughout, painting, bathroom, windows, doors, ect. Its sitting on five very nice acres in a rural area. As of right now I'm even on everything. Don't owe anything on it and all improvements were from the estate.Only expense I have will be insurance and maintaining utilities. I'm doing all the grass cutting and outside stuff. Options are to wait a few months until economy gets back and then see if I can rent it. Or I can try now. Not something I wanted to do either way.

My question is: what are the things you know now that you wished you would have known when you first started renting your property?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sell it and do not rent it... I learned from experience the hard way.

Thinking about it. Would have to keep 75% of the property though. One of my kids planted about 500 black walnut trees on it 15 years ago.

PM sent

Be extremely picky on a tenant. Extremely.

My father in law has 4 houses sitting empty in Scottsboro because he was tired of dealing with tenants and the houses being trashed after the fact..that and he's mid 80's and the money wasn't worth his head ache I guess. He's talked about selling them, but I'm figuring the family members inherit it instead.

He has property in Ft.Walton/ Destin too. One house has had the same tenants for 30+ years. Their religion won't allow them to be in debt or something of that sort. He hit a home run when they rented.

what he said about being picky. And let them know you have permission to inspect at any time. And do it often

Roadkill I have 2 friends at work who make way more renting properties than they do at work. That being said from what I have learned from them that property definantly sounds like a selling property like Gulfcoast said. Good luck with whatever you do.

Don’t rent to family

this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^X100000000000000000000000, worst sobs to deal with by far.

I own all commercial now (which SUCKS currently because none of my tenants are opened and can't pay rent). I used to own a bunch of residential. Probably too late now, but don't spend too much restoring a rental unit. It's either a business or its not. It can't be in between. You can have ZERO personal attachment to the property or do not rent it out. Meet all of your tenants and try hard not to rent to meth heads. This can be a problem when renting rural for sure. Put back at least 25% of the rent every month for things that break. Don't forget about taxes.

Get an application, copy of identifications and run a background check thoroughly. Talk to past landlords, check credit, references, jobs references, and arrest history. I get 30 dollars and give them an application which ask everything about them. Also look at the current bills ( can they afford it). If you need and application PM me your email address and I will send you a copy.

do inspections and don't let one thing slide. if they won't pay for the first thing they damage then there will be more.

Man, between the practice and this you really are taking a beating. Sure hope it gets better soon.

Great info all - thanks

I have 6. Sell it. They will wreck it and won’t pay you, then move. Sad to say but my opinion is the only way to make a little money in the rental business around here is to be a slumlord. You won’t make enough in 2 years to even put a roof on it.

Wife and I had 15 rental homes and about 25 years ago we sold our last one and it was the happiest day of or lives never again, more power to those who enjoy it though.

inspect it every 6 months and make it known in the lease any damages not listed on move in condition form should be immediately repaired and charged to tenant within 30 days or evict. only be responsible for the repair of plumbing, electrical, roofing and HVAC all appliances are responsiblity of tenant, give them a choice to bring their own or agree to maintain the existing. dont be afraid of being an ahole if you give an inch theyll want a mile. one plumbing issue is maintenance if your snaking out toilets every month because they dont know how to wipe their @$$ charge them theyll figure it out.

I think the key to having rentals is to exclusively look for Grade A tenants in good areas.

My parents have a rental condo here in Auburn. Their tenant is a super sweet 4th year vet student.
Someone spending all that time, energy and money to put Dr. in front of their name doesn't have any interest in trashing your investment.

We don't have enough information to give you an answer. (location, pictures, school system, avg rents in area, etc)

Some people have what it takes to be a landlord and some don't. It's a great business for the right person and the tax benefits are good. Don't get in the business unless you plan on getting upwards of 10+ houses, and at that point you need to have a management company in place taking care of everything. For the average investor it's not worthwhile to just own one (too many headaches for the return).

Since it's paid off, I'd say yours is worth taking a shot at renting, but I say that without having enough info from you to tell you plainly what I'd do. For doing it yourself - get a bulletproof lease that gets down to the nitty gritty, then hold the tenant to it. Try to rent to mature working class couples - no singles, especially not single moms or young people - who have a good job history and income. Get 2x the rent up front and make sure they understand what the expectations are. Tell them straight up here's what happens in the event that you don't pay. If you say the rent is late on the 5th, then that's what it is and enforce your late fees. It's a good idea to get them on auto pay with their bank. When they give you trouble - don't give them an inch. Per my leases - after the 10th of the month I send the Pay or Quit notice and go to raising hell. If they suck at life - GET RID OF THEM QUICK....BUT....Eventually YOU WILL get a good God-fearing tenant that does what they're supposed to do. Treat that person like your favorite customer - like an old repeat customer who you love to see. Send them thank you notes and $40 home depot / target gift cards for sticking with you. Talk to them when you go by to check on things. Keep them happy. But the avg people - keep them on a leash and be hard on them. I mean treat them like crap, until you get the good ones.


BOOM

Before you accept a new tenant, drive by where they live now.
That's what your place will look like in 3 months.