Renting your house can seem daunting. You want to make sure you get every step right before you get tenants in there. However, renting is a great way to get a steady flow of income. In the next few blogs, we’ll go through the steps to rent your house so that you’ll be fully prepared to do it!

Why You Should Rent

First, you make your home into an asset. Instead of just being there, it’s bringing you money. Hopefully, the rental income will also pay off your mortgage, which saves you money, and then put the additional amount in your pocket. It’s an easy way to dip your toes into investing, and it’s even better if you aren’t sure if you’ll need your house again. After all, if you decide you want to move back into that house, it’s always an option.

Finding Tenants

You want to have a large selection of tenants to choose from. So, don’t just stick a sign in your yard (although that’s a great thing to do anyway). Expand your search online! Put your house on Zillow and Craigslist! For safety though, on Craigslist, don’t put your exact address. Hopefully you’ll have a lot of applicants! And then, you’ll need to narrow them down! Have a list of criteria that each tenant needs to meet, such as a base income, good references, and a good credit score. If they don’t match those specifications, don’t spend time vetting them further.

Also decide if you want to hire a property manager! Our last two blog posts talked about the pros and cons of that, and you can look through those posts to decide what would be best for you! Next week we’ll look through a few more steps of renting out your home!

 

For more information, check out the article that inspired our blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/how-to-rent-your-house