Material Witness

Make sure your contract states that you will be able to come into the house monthly to change the filters (and do a quick look-see for outlandish rule breaking). Our renter "didn't know" she was supposed to change the HVAC filter, and never did it in 2 years. She kept the place immaculate, we never dreamed she'd cost us so much until the unit blew up. Of course, it was winter and we had to replace it quickly. Her security deposit was not enough!

ILoveToQuilt

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.

Quilty-Louise

My hubs & I are renters. We have been renting the condo we
live in for 11 years. We would love to buy a home, but
quite frankly it is a darn good thing we didn't do it 13 years
ago as we was thinking of doing we would have lost the house
by now if we had purchased.

KarenR

Instead of renting maybe sell it Contract for Deed. I do not understand why the realtor would want to rent it instead of sell it.

Peckish

My grandparents owned several rental properties throughout the years, and my brother had one for a while. Nuggets of info I've taken from watching:

1. Require them to purchase rental insurance, and they have to show you proof.
2. Get more than one reference. Their current landlord may give them a good reference just to get them out of his/her hair.
3. I believe Clark Howard has some landlord tips on his website somewhere. I remember him saying he offered a discount of $50 or some such thing if they paid the rent before the 1st of the month - he's never had a late payment.

ETA: Here's a link to Clark's website. He did a series of articles about renters, this is only one of them, so you might want to did for the rest.

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clar...-tenant/nYRL3/

lclang

Check ALL references, jobs, utility companies, past landlords, etc. Get a good damage deposit. Still, it can be an uphill proposition. Our daughter owns a bunch of rentals and some turn out fine and others?????

maviskw

We have a "nun" living upstairs. She has been here for 18 years, is an artist, is single, and teaches Sunday School. You should see what she had done to my yard. Stone walkways, stone walls around the flower beds, lots of plants and wild flowers, and snow sculptures in the winter. She's a regular Michelangelo with snow. We don't really make a profit from the rent she pays, but it covers our taxes and insurance.
But I've had a few bad ones, too. Holes in the walls, bleach on the carpet where they tried to clean up candle wax, and a few things walked away from my garage when they left.
All in all, I've been very happy that I made my upstairs into an apartment. We don't need all of this big old farm house.

nativetexan

When I first got an apartment I got renters insurance and always had it. but it was for my things, not the apartment owner or home owner. If a renter damages something and moves out, how would you get their insurance money? it doesn't work that way. Try finding someone through a Church perhaps. There are still nice people out there but everyone is feeling the money pinch and that does change people. Again hon, good luck.

linhawk

I called the previous land lord and he said, Ohh they are great people. I hope you rent to them. It was our first rental, so we rented to them. They paid one months rent. PERIOD! Old landlord wanted to be rid of them.
Check the old house, neighbors..etc. Do your homework.
We now have some great tenents.

stitchengramie

I rent, and where I am renting I had to pay a deposit plus first and last months rent. They do this because sometimes they have renters that up and move out without giving a notice they are moving.