Here’s the second part about how to rent your home! With this list, you should have a good start on thinking about renting your property!

Charging Rent

This actually simpler than you may think. You don’t have to think about a price yourself; check the market instead! You want to compare to places around that are similar. You can look on places like Zillow, or call other landlords in your area. If you have a property manager, they are also a good source to check on this. Don’t forget your security deposit, which should go into a bank account untouched. Check your local laws, but typically it’s a month’s worth of rent!

Rental Application

You’ll want information such as the employers, social security number, past addresses, phone numbers, and all other identifying information. Don’t forget to charge a rental application fee. This should cover the background check that you should always do. Decide what you’ll be comfortable with after the background check. It’ll show information of felonies, bankruptcies, or other history that could be of interest to you. Decide who you are comfortable with allowing to rent your property!

Release of Information

Require a release of information signature. You should check up on all your potential tenant’s claims, but the most important is their source of income. You want to know their job stability and earnings. Then, check on previous landlords. Ask about what rent they paid, if they got the security deposit back, and if the landlord would rent to these tenants again. These sources of information will give you a great idea of what this tenant will be like.

Choosing Your Tenant

Make sure to process your tenants in the order they come in. That way you will not get complaints about discrimination. If you deny a tenant, provide written documentation for the reason you turned them down. When you choose your tenant, you can verbally let them know.

Rental Lease Agreement

Usually these lease agreements are for a year long. They should include information such as the tenants names, the lease agreement, how much rent is, how much the security deposit is, what rules there are, and other things like this. When the tenant is ready to sign the agreement, walk them through it. Verbally repeat these things so you are sure the tenant knows their responsibilities.

Property Inspection

Once the lease agreement is signed, walk through the property. Take detailed notes of what condition the property is in, and have the tenant note any issues as well. This is to know what is a preexisting condition, and what damages the tenant may have done to the property.

These are just a few basic steps to renting your property! Make sure that you are well prepared before stepping into the role of a landlord, and it will go just fine!

 

To learn more about this topic, check out the article that inspired our blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/how-to-rent-your-house