Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advice.

[charbie]

My husband and I have been struggling to sell our home due to over saturation of the market...plus we've only owned the home for a few years so dont have a ton of equity in it. Options are to drop the price and lose our shirts, or keep it and rent it our, holding it for some investment reasons. We can afford to keep it/rent it out and buy a new home, and if we have a lapse in renters we also would be ok carrying both mortgages (it would suck, but we'd manage.)

So....the ad has been posted and calls are coming in, and I want to make sure we are doing this the legal way. All applicants are required to fill an application, and background+credit checks will also be conducted. I found a quality application online, and we also have a lease that had been drawn up for his cousin who was renting his second home out....we just need to change a few things.

Any tips? Am I crazy to rent out my house? My dad lives quite close to the house, and will be stopping in monthly to check the air filter (per our lease agreement).

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Have you also considered that the mortgage isn't going to be your only bill? Depending on your state your property taxes may increase if you're currently allowed an exemption for your primary residence. If anything breaks in the house, you have to fix it. We love renting for this very reason. When the pipes froze - call the landlord! When the shower was leaking - call the landlord! We also don't pay our sewer as this bill, if not paid, results in a lien on the house. Therefore they only allow it to be in the homeowners name. Also, how do you feel about pets? Kids? Is your dad just going thru the garage for the filters. I do realize that it's your house, but as renters I would find it invasive to have somebody else in my rented space that often. My biggest pet peeve as far as signing your lease.....

DO NOT EVER USE WHITE OUT!

A single line and BOTH parties initial the change. That way if there is an issue neither party can claim that it was changed at a later date after signing.

 

[April20]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

We rented out our house last August and did basically what you've done thus far. We listed it on Craigslist on a Monday and it was rented by Saturday. We ended up with great tenants and have had no issues thus far. We're still pretty close to where our house is, so we can run over if we need to. We used an application we found online and a lease agreement that a friend has used for her rental propoerties.

We did background/credit checks thru tenantverification.com (I think that's what it was called). It was $25 and they paid for it. They came back with clean records, no issues fiancial or otherwise.

 

[charbie]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Have you also considered that the mortgage isn't going to be your only bill? Depending on your state your property taxes may increase if you're currently allowed an exemption for your primary residence. If anything breaks in the house, you have to fix it. We love renting for this very reason. When the pipes froze - call the landlord! When the shower was leaking - call the landlord! We also don't pay our sewer as this bill, if not paid, results in a lien on the house. Therefore they only allow it to be in the homeowners name. Also, how do you feel about pets? Kids? Is your dad just going thru the garage for the filters. I do realize that it's your house, but as renters I would find it invasive to have somebody else in my rented space that often. My biggest pet peeve as far as signing your lease.....

DO NOT EVER USE WHITE OUT!

A single line and BOTH parties initial the change. That way if there is an issue neither party can claim that it was changed at a later date after signing.

Thanks for the input from a renter! We are very aware that we will have other bills associated with keeping the house. We've pretty much repaired or replaced everything in the house recently since we were first preparing it for sale. We've also taken into account that the tenants probably will have children, and may even have pets, so there will be fees and terms if pets are part of the family. The home is in a very divided area- while a nice starter home, there is an area of apartments, duplexes, and many other rental properties thoughtout parts of the neighborhood. So not necessarily going to draw the best tenants.

As for the filter check, it will be in the agreement and they will know this upfront. Perhaps once they are there for a few months it can come every other month, but the home probably is going to be of interest to some less than desirable applicants and we need to protect our property. My dad will be going through the garage into the basement to check the filter. I understand it may seem invasive, but after speaking with other landlords in my area, it is pretty standard. The home across the street from ours was rented by an absentee landlord for a few years. His tenants were so disgusting that the home was literally condemned when they finally were evicted. It had to be flipped for a total loss. There was no way of knowing from the outside the condition of the home.

And I never use white out...its against the law in my field

 

[Haven]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

We've been doing the same thing with DH's condo in the city for nearly three years now. We couldn't sell it back then for a decent price, so we just kept it and bought our house. We've been lucky to have a great renter this entire time, and it's worked out well.

I think it's a great option if you can manage it!

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

And I never use white out...its against the law in my field

LOL. I can't tell you how many professional documents I have sent back to be recreated because somebody used white out. Drives me up a wall If your home isn't in the greatest area I can see why you would want to check on it monthly. Another thing I thought of would be something about the upkeep of the lawn in your agreement. Our house had a very nice lawn and our rental agreement had specific details about us keeping things mowed, trimmed and watered. We have to use house water so I can easily see why some renters might let it go (It gets very expensive in the summer).

 

[kelpie]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

I only just started renting out my house while I'm overseas. We advertised it on craigslist and were so overwhelmed by the response (and I did not want to parade 50 families through my home) that we went with a real estate agent to be the property manager although the renter did end up being someone we found off CL. The realtor took the first month's rent as commission and a 10% cut thereafter. While the rent does not completely cover my mortgage it helps put me in a comfortable financial situation and I look at it like they pay the interest on my house for me while I only pay the principle. The renters we got have awful credit from the shortsale of two houses but we listened to their story and felt like they had good income and were responsible people before everything hit the fan. They put down 1 month rent as security deposit and offered to pay 2 months upfront. Especially if you are far away I think having a property manager makes it much easier.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

if i was a landlord i'll be in jail for murder... the stories i hear from my SIL about their tenants...

 

[chemgirl]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Just an FYI...

I have no idea where you live, but in my area it is illegal for a landlord to enter a property without written notice given at least 24 hours prior to entry. The only exception is if there is an emergency. Landlords in my area can't write anything in to the lease that violates the landlord tenant act, so you should look in to this. Notice has to be given for maintenance on the property.

There are other rules worth looking in to. For example, in my area a landlord can ask if a tenant has pets, but the tenant doesn't have to disclose if they do or not. Once a lease is signed, the landlord cannot evict on the basis of the tenant having pets, even if there is a no pets policy in the lease (unless the pet is a danger to others in the building). This is a huge issue because it is also illegal to collect security deposits here. It is legal to ask for first and last months rent, but no security deposit. So pet damage is a nightmare for landlords.

My aunt and uncle rent out houses here and they said they have issues with people abandonning belongings on the property. The tenants take off, or are evicted, and they don't bother to take things they don't want anymore. Its not only a hassle to clean up, but a legal issue as well. Here, if a tenant leaves property they have several months to reclaim it, so my aunt and uncle have to keep a storage space of old useless things just in case the tenants come back looking for them within the grace period. Its a hassle to clear out the stuff and store it.

So my advice is to know the rules in your area and decide whether you are comfortable with them or not before renting your house.

 

[zoebartlett]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

We moved far from home over a year ago and we couldn't sell our condo before we moved. We ended up hiring a property management company to place ads, screen possible tenants, and then act as a landlord once someone moved in. At the time, it was a good decision because we couldn't just stop by if something went wrong at the condo. We lucked out and got a great tenant. We've had a few issues with the property management company but we did end up ironing things out, and so far, things have improved greatly.

We have since moved back to the area, and so while we could take on the role of landlord now, we know virtually nothing about home improvements and other matters. We like the security of knowing that someone else is looking after the property and taking care of things should problems arise. It is an added cost, however, so that's something to think about. Also, we couldn't rent out the condo for the same as our mortgage payments, so we're still paying a certain amount towards that as well as the rent we pay on the condo we're renting ourselves. It's a pain but I know that someday we'll sell our condo and be done with it.

 

[D&T]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

It is also very important for you to learn, read and understand your Landlord Tenant Act in your state (just google it, should have some sort of link to your states official website) to ensure things go smoothly. Good Luck We've been on both ends. Never been a problem as long as you don't have a high maitenance tenant.

 

[charbie]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Chemgirl: I was aware of the 24 hr notice, so will heed that, but never heard the things about pets! Good to know, ill look into it more. We have said up front that there is a flat rate of $50/mo for pets in the home and no additional deposit...hoping this will help. In the rental agreement I have from a realtor, it says that if a person is evicted or vacates the property, they have 3 days to collect belongs or else they will be disposed of. Ill make sure that is ok to keep in the lease agreement.

Zoe: we also could look into a property manager, but with my dad living pretty close (and he works at Lowes...very handy!) I feel comfortable taking on the role. But I completely understand why if you were living across the country why you would want a manager....we sure would!

D&T: thanks for the tip. I've got it printed out and have read through a bit, but I just want to make sure we follow all the laws so this doesn't blow up in our faces. Due to the area, im particularly focusing on the Fair Housing Act, bc I think we will have an eclectic group of applicants.

Haven and April: oh I hope we are as lucky as you guys are! One lady who emailed me with interest earlier sounded great. Very up front and honest about having pets (said "we are the proud owners of a corgi").
DF: I hope I DON'T get tenants like your sisters.

We are having an open house for it on Sunday, with applications available then or by email for those who can't make it. My dad will show the home during the week after and we plan to close applications by next week. Fingers crossed!

 

[charbie]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

I only just started renting out my house while I'm overseas. We advertised it on craigslist and were so overwhelmed by the response (and I did not want to parade 50 families through my home) that we went with a real estate agent to be the property manager although the renter did end up being someone we found off CL. The realtor took the first month's rent as commission and a 10% cut thereafter. While the rent does not completely cover my mortgage it helps put me in a comfortable financial situation and I look at it like they pay the interest on my house for me while I only pay the principle. The renters we got have awful credit from the shortsale of two houses but we listened to their story and felt like they had good income and were responsible people before everything hit the fan. They put down 1 month rent as security deposit and offered to pay 2 months upfront. Especially if you are far away I think having a property manager makes it much easier.

Sorry I missed your post when I was replying! Yes, if we were that far away, a propeerty manager would be necessary. Rent wont completely cover our mortgae either, but our insurance will go down since we will drop to physical plant only as coverage...no interior belongings. Our old agent (who angers me greatly) offered to be a managers, however I didn't trust her since she couldn't even get a showing on our house. And we are offering an open house to avoid having a billion people come through. Plus the house is still furnished, which makes me more comfortable and people will assume we still live there until a lease is signed.

 

[chemgirl]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Chemgirl: I was aware of the 24 hr notice, so will heed that, but never heard the things about pets! Good to know, ill look into it more. We have said up front that there is a flat rate of $50/mo for pets in the home and no additional deposit...hoping this will help. In the rental agreement I have from a realtor, it says that if a person is evicted or vacates the property, they have 3 days to collect belongs or else they will be disposed of. Ill make sure that is ok to keep in the lease agreement.

Those are the rules here in Ontario, but they didnt' apply when I rented in Quebec (whole new set of rules). Its really surprising how different things are from province to province, so I can only imagine the variation from state to state.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Just an FYI...

I have no idea where you live, but in my area it is illegal for a landlord to enter a property without written notice given at least 24 hours prior to entry. The only exception is if there is an emergency. Landlords in my area can't write anything in to the lease that violates the landlord tenant act, so you should look in to this. Notice has to be given for maintenance on the property.quote]



It's also illegal where I live for a landlord to enter a rental, but I can say from experience that since we moved to our current apt, they've done so at least THREE times. Once we got a knock at the door at 8 pm and the maintaince guy "happened to be in the neighborhood." We needed a new pantry door and he decided that he would measure it then and there.

We've rented a from a few other places and aside from this place, have always had to pay LARGE upfront costs. The last house we rented, we had to pay the landlord first/last/damage amount of full rent. So 1800 X 3 = 5400. We prorated so it was $4800 the first month. If I were to rent, that is what I would ask for.

I've done a lot of research into the landlord/tenant act for MY state and found, and this is really important, that here a landlord HAS TO put the deposit in a bank account designated for that. A landlord has to include on the lease where the money will be held. That is one reason I got a large part of my previous deposit back was because the landlord failed to do so. With my current apt, the lease says the money is held at BOA. If a landlord doesn't do this, he/she can be sued. I found so many mistakes my previous landlord made that I could have taken her to court for double what my original deposit was and win! Took me 1/2 hour and a few phone calls to find out all the legalities.

Edited to make a bit more sense

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Chemgirl: I was aware of the 24 hr notice, so will heed that, but never heard the things about pets! Good to know, ill look into it more. We have said up front that there is a flat rate of $50/mo for pets in the home and no additional deposit...hoping this will help. In the rental agreement I have from a realtor, it says that if a person is evicted or vacates the property, they have 3 days to collect belongs or else they will be disposed of. Ill make sure that is ok to keep in the lease agreement.

quote]

RE: pets. You may also want to state what size pets you'll be willing to have in your rental. Many landlords will not allow restricted breeds or dogs over 35 lbs. Also, be sure to state the $50/month is non-refundable. Even if it sound obvious, PUT IT IN WRITTING. Our pet deposit was $300 non-refundable and $900 for standard refund, all in writting. Also, in addition, no restricted breeds and pets are NOT allowed outside. As a result, we live in a small complex with NO roaming animals! Love it that way.

 

[Ninna]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

[

 

[Haven]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

I hope it works out for you, Charbie!

My FIL owns a lot of properties and has been acting as a landlord for decades. He's had some bad experiences, of course, but over the years he says he's learned to trust his instincts: If he has a bad feeling about someone, he doesn't rent to them. (He owns a strip mall, several multi-unit buildings, and a bunch of individual condos in buildings. All of these places are in various parts of the city (Chicago) and the neighborhoods vary. He started out renting one place, and then just accumulated the rest. He's not a professional businessman or anything like that, he just learned as he went along. I think you guys will be just fine, too. It's obvious that you're doing your homework. Now you need to find a good renter. Good luck!

 

[Ninna]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

[

Not sure where my post went....


We rented our home for 2 years before selling last November.
Choosing to hang on until the market picks up is a good idea as long as the rent covers most of your mortage.
There are 'other expenses' that come with it though: Cleaning/repairs before advertising, utilities, liability insurance, etc. but you can recover some money by depreciation of carpeting, appliances and plumbing for x number of years.
Like MC posted, Verbal agreements and changes have zero value. Your Rental Agreement should include:
Number of people allowed to live in the house, if pets are allowed, amount of any late charges or returned check fees, if attorney's fees can be collected from the loosing party of a lawsuit among you and the renter, who is responsible for paying utilities, who's taking care of the yard, any promises by you to make repairs [including the date by which the repairs will be completed].
You can enter rentals in an emergency or 24 hour advance notice in writing: When the tenant has abandoned the house, necessary repairs, show the house to prospective purchaser or anyone performing work in the house or checking for an odd installation by the tenant i.e., huge waterbed on the second floor.
We discovered 3 families living in our rental, they were collecting rent from the other 2 families that worked on the stables
The second tenant was great, he lived there for 14 months with his 4 daughters. I wouldn't hire someone to collect rent, check on things or take a repair call. Our new home is 2.5 hours away from the ranch, I managed to get things fixed from here.

 

[iota15]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Best piece of advice - Decide now that you will have a GREAT tenant in your place, or no tenant at all.

Of course, read all about the landlord obligations in your state. However, if you have a nightmare tenant (and ANY red flags, alarm bells or twinges of something might not be right should be heeded to BEFORE signing the lease), that tenant will make sure you know EVERY piece of that legislation/regulation before and after she leaves.

If you have a great tenant, just collect the rent, come and go as you please (within reason), and pay to maintain your property whenever they call (bursted pipes, broken fridge, etc.). Easy-peasy.

It is better to leave your home vacant an additional month than to settle for a less than ideal tenant. Any feeling AT ALL that a potential candidate is less than ideal NEEDS TO BE listened to. They should treat it like their home, and want to make a home - stable, good income, dressed properly, good hygiene, etc... and read the soft, subtle signals - whether they are partiers, nit-picky complainers, hoarders, etc.

If you're allowing pets, meet the pets. I was a property manager for a while, and you wouldn't believe the mangy animals I saw with their relatively well-dressed owners. Yes, I agree that there was likely a lot of quick, unfounded judgments being made about potential tenants - fairly or unfairly, but this is YOUR property and bad tenants become YOUR problem when you sign a lease.

A bad tenant will make YOU pay. Most (and it feels like all) state laws FAVOR the tenant, not the landlord. It also takes quite a while to evict a bad tenant (months!), even when they stop paying rent and are destroying the place.

If you have a great, responsible tenant - no worries, when they find a place close to their new workplace, or have built up the nestegg for their new home - they'll give you plenty of notice for you to find the next set of ideal tenants. The place will already be clean and the lawn will be well kept, so it's easy to show good tenants what their new home will look like. The good tenants will trust you to show the place whenever you like, or will open the doors at all reasonable hours for you to come in.

In short - regardless of the neighbourhood, you want to find that gem of a tenant. Fix up your place if necessary to attract them (new coat of neutral paint works wonders, clean up the lawn, remove clutter/personal artifacts, etc.). Strangely, sometimes I find increasing the requested rent nets you some really good candidates. You just hope they like the place when they see it. No matter what though - trust your gut, check their references, and don't settle.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

[

Not sure where my post went....


We rented our home for 2 years before selling last November.
Choosing to hang on until the market picks up is a good idea as long as the rent covers most of your mortage.
There are 'other expenses' that come with it though: Cleaning/repairs before advertising, utilities, liability insurance, etc. but you can recover some money by depreciation of carpeting, appliances and plumbing for x number of years.
Like MC posted, Verbal agreements and changes have zero value. Your Rental Agreement should include:
Number of people allowed to live in the house, if pets are allowed, amount of any late charges or returned check fees, if attorney's fees can be collected from the loosing party of a lawsuit among you and the renter, who is responsible for paying utilities, who's taking care of the yard, any promises by you to make repairs [including the date by which the repairs will be completed].
You can enter rentals in an emergency or 24 hour advance notice in writing: When the tenant has abandoned the house, necessary repairs, show the house to prospective purchaser or anyone performing work in the house or checking for an odd installation by the tenant i.e., huge waterbed on the second floor.
We discovered 3 families living in our rental, they were collecting rent from the other 2 families that worked on the stables
The second tenant was great, he lived there for 14 months with his 4 daughters. I wouldn't hire someone to collect rent, check on things or take a repair call. Our new home is 2.5 hours away from the ranch, I managed to get things fixed from here.

Another couple things: As far as I've seen, you can require tenants to have renters' insurance. Someone told me that in Canada that kind of insurance isn't available and I haven't double checked to see if that is true (are you in the US or CA?). Here in the US it's less than $20 a month and I can see why landlords would require it. Less liability.

Also, like Ninna said, have all the people living in the house documented (even those under 1 AND, in addition, have them list their cars & liscence plate #s. That way you can be sure there are not a few extra "tenants." (and include that anyone staying at the house for longer than two weeks requires notification).

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

DF: I hope I DON'T get tenants like your sisters.
We are having an open house for it on Sunday, with applications available then or by email for those who can't make it. My dad will show the home during the week after and we plan to close applications by next week. Fingers crossed!

good luck charbie.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

A bad tenant will make YOU pay. Most (and it feels like all) state laws FAVOR the tenant, not the landlord. It also takes quite a while to evict a bad tenant (months!), even when they stop paying rent and are destroying the place.

yup!!...my SIL is going through that B.S. now.

 

[charbie]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Iota: first and foremost...do you have more pics of the rock in your avatar?
second: how do I document that I don't want someone bc their pet was gross, or I had a bad "feeling" and not somehow get in trouble? I mean, if I get an application and their credit/background checks out, income is fine, but overall gives me the creeps and I just really get a bad vibe like they want to use my house as a brothel....what ground can I actually stand on?

 

[iota15]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

I need to take more pics. I have a SMTR thread somewhere too... (and thank you!)

As for your second question, this is a PRIVATE transaction. You are not a government entity or the border cross guard. You have no obligation to lease your house to someone just because they checked out fine on paper. It's just like rejecting a very nice friend who will never become the boyfriend. You don't have to give any reasons if you don't want to - but being nice is always a good rule. (They know where you live/own property afterall).

If anyone gives you the willies, tell them we're continuing to take applications and see candidates until X date. Tell everyone who showed a lot of interest (but were unsuitable for whatever reason) that regretfully, and unfortunately, you have chosen another tenant. Thank you for your application and good luck on your search. (the end).

If for some reason they persist, and really, almost no one ever does - just say you appreciated their application, but I'm sorry - the other tenants were (a family friend, offered to pay to paint the house and replace the carpets, have older children, no pets, etc. whatever.) It doesn't matter. They just assume the other candidates were better - which obviously they were.

Settling for unsuitable/unsettling candidates is the BIGGEST mistake you can make. Just don't do it.

 

[zoebartlett]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Charbie -- It should be fine if you have your dad help you out by looking after the place for you since he lives close by. We live fairly close to our condo as well, and I do wonder occasionally if we should just take care of it ourselves now that we're back home. We'd save money, that's for sure.

 

[iota15]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

It sounds like you're having a bunch of people come over at the same time. If you can, try to stagger the showings a little bit (person A at 3:00, family B at 3:15, family C at 3:30, etc.) It takes longer but it gives you (or your father) a chance to interview each candidate, and assess their interest in the property - (whether they really want it, will treat it like their home, whether this is a temporary stop until she moves across the country with her fiance).

Think of it like a job interview. Can you converse and communicate with the candidate fairly easily? What's your sense of them? If you're not sure whether your father can handle the finer details of assessing the person (language barrier, feels every schmoe is great or terrible), meet with your final candidates again personally.

And don't feel bad. You're handing the keys to your house over to a stranger. Just like at a job interview, no employer says they didn't hire candidate X because they were smelly and disorganized at the interview, even though that's the truth. Picture your ideal candidate/family in your head now (responsible, no pets, trustworthy, calm, stable, friendly (for all those phone calls/e-mails re: leaking dishwasher and clogged pipes, it's nice to have someone reasonable and understanding on the other end of the line), etc.). If you don't meet anyone who fits these criteria, don't let the dark clouds of greed push you into accepting less. I swear - good candidates are out there, even if you have to lower the rent to find them (but I wouldn't try lowering it until you've gone through a few cycles of showings)... and as I said before, raising the requested rent actually brings a nicer crowd to the table generally.

 

[chemgirl]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

[

Not sure where my post went....


We rented our home for 2 years before selling last November.
Choosing to hang on until the market picks up is a good idea as long as the rent covers most of your mortage.
There are 'other expenses' that come with it though: Cleaning/repairs before advertising, utilities, liability insurance, etc. but you can recover some money by depreciation of carpeting, appliances and plumbing for x number of years.
Like MC posted, Verbal agreements and changes have zero value. Your Rental Agreement should include:
Number of people allowed to live in the house, if pets are allowed, amount of any late charges or returned check fees, if attorney's fees can be collected from the loosing party of a lawsuit among you and the renter, who is responsible for paying utilities, who's taking care of the yard, any promises by you to make repairs [including the date by which the repairs will be completed].
You can enter rentals in an emergency or 24 hour advance notice in writing: When the tenant has abandoned the house, necessary repairs, show the house to prospective purchaser or anyone performing work in the house or checking for an odd installation by the tenant i.e., huge waterbed on the second floor.
We discovered 3 families living in our rental, they were collecting rent from the other 2 families that worked on the stables
The second tenant was great, he lived there for 14 months with his 4 daughters. I wouldn't hire someone to collect rent, check on things or take a repair call. Our new home is 2.5 hours away from the ranch, I managed to get things fixed from here.

Another couple things: As far as I've seen, you can require tenants to have renters' insurance. Someone told me that in Canada that kind of insurance isn't available and I haven't double checked to see if that is true (are you in the US or CA?). Here in the US it's less than $20 a month and I can see why landlords would require it. Less liability.

Also, like Ninna said, have all the people living in the house documented (even those under 1 AND, in addition, have them list their cars & liscence plate #s. That way you can be sure there are not a few extra "tenants." (and include that anyone staying at the house for longer than two weeks requires notification).

I was required to have renters' insurance when I rented in Ontario. I think it was close to $200 a year for a two bedroom apartment in a lowrise.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

If you can afford to buy without selling DO IT!! We bought our first house in 96 and in 05 we bought another house and rented out the first. Now with us out of the country we've been renting that house out too for 2 years now. We actually had a better time of it when *we* did everything ourselves, but being overseas we've had to hire a management company and they're doing okay. No big problems knock on wood... our first house has never not had a renter in it - every single day for the past 5.5 years has been paid for. It's a starter home 3br/2ba 1200square foot house at the end of a culdesac with a decent sized yard and it's in demand. Our other home is an ancient farmhouse on almost an acre that is way more quirky and not as easy to rent but even that we've only had vacant for a few weeks between renters at most.

Real Estate is the best investment over time. Buy while the houses are low and acquire! My great grandparents purchased all sorts of properties and my grandfather retired at 40 and lived off of selling things off for 36 years. My husband and I are looking/considering buying a house right now while prices are low and renting that out too.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Re: Any landlords/owners of rental homes? need tips and advi

Not sure if anyone has stated the obvious, but please have all leases and contracts, etc reviewed by an atty before signing.