How to Rent or Lease Out Your Home

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By Kristin Bauer
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (3 Ratings)

Cozy house

This article will provide methods and tips for converting your house into a rental property.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

House
Internet

Step 1

Market your home: Depending on your situation, you have a few different options for marketing your home for lease. If your just testing the waters or your not in a very time critical situation, you should begin by trying options such as craigslist or rentals.com. Both are very inexpensive and have been effective in my experience. However, both of these options require you to do showings on your own. If your situation is more time critical, you are no longer living in the area, or you simply want to take a hands off approach, you should hire a realtor to submit your lease into the multiple listing service (MLS) and allow he/she to handle all the marketing and showings. My realtor charges one months rent as commission: half to the tenant's agent and half to my agent.
Step 2

Even if you hire a realtor, you should consider listing your home on craigslists, rentals.com and other rental home websites. Tip: If possible, you should include in your realtor's contract an agreement that no commission will be paid if you're able to locate a tenant on your own.
Step 3

Once a tenant has been found, draw up a contract that clearly outlines all the terms. Depending on your state, you should have no trouble finding sample contracts and solid tips on the internet.
Step 4

Be sure to have a plan for late payments, maintenance costs and repairs, and other potential issues. A management company will handle a lot of these problems, but keep in mind they can be expensive as well. Depending on the condition of your home and the level of involvement you'd like in this process, you may be just fine handling everything on your own. It would be wise to have a couple of contacts such as a handyman and plumber.

Comments

arogges said

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on 11/17/2009 You can easily use a free online property management system which will let you know when payments are due, who owes what, when... damages, properties, EVERYTHING (it's very easy) at: www.rentiseasy.com