One thing no one has brought up...if there will be children living in the home, check your local lead paint laws. You might have to delead the apartment prior to tenants moving in. Very expensive to do. You are responsible for checking to see that your home does/doesn't contain lead paint before being able to rent the unit. You cannot rent an apartment that has lead paint even if you have a signed agreement from the tenants stating they don't care about the lead. Different states have different age limits on children and lead paint, so check your state laws (usually the Health Dept in the city or state will have this information). Don't rely on the realtor for this information, check it yourself.
Good luck. Personally, if I was in this situation, I'd wait to see if the house sold. Renting it out would be the last option I'd take. Yes, I've been a landlord and have had both wonderful tenants and tenants from H&*L. Had to delead one unit before we could rent it - tenants only stayed 5 months, so we never made the money back.
Last edited by ILoveToQuilt; 04-03-2014 at 04:36 PM.