(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

OT any advice on renting out a house

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
been trying to sell a house for three years now, I dont want to heat it again this winter. I found some renters they are moving in on friday. They seem like good people. I have hired a property manager to take care of things, collecting rent etc. I have never been a landlord before so any advice would be good thanx.
 
Don't, but if you must, be CERTAIN to have an ironclad lease drawn up by a COMPETENT real estate attorney and perform a thorough background check of the tenant(s).

Landlord tenant law is very much pro tenant and anti (evil) landlord in most (all?) states.

Dean
 

Based on my dad's and several of my friend's experiences, cut your losses and donate the house to the local fire department. Good renters are very hard to come by.
 
hi Lyle

I am a former farmer and a landlord for over 30 years.
Today all August rents are paid and I can go back 18 years where that is the case--meaning for 18 years I haven't gone into the next month with previous months not being paid.
I only have a dozen rental mobile lots left.
I treat it like the business it is and it makes me a lot of money.
The problem with having a house like you have is that it isn't your income and you might not treat it like a real business.
I had a renter who never missed a months rent in 6 years--one month was 3 weeks late and I had my attorney start eviction.
Never listen to a sob story.
 
I had rental property for 12 years. I usually had young Army officers that I rented to who were attending school at the Army base near me and where I retired from. Never had a problem getting the rent on time. When the military were sent to Ft Lee in VA I rented to civilians and I decided to sell since there were some low lifes out there. It was also a good tax write off. Some people don't seem to care about anothers property even with a security deposit.

You probably should do a background check on your renters. Hal
 
If you rent it out, it will always be a rental house, meaning never
the same again. If you want to sell it, hang on and wait for a buyer. Try getting creative in marketing it. Lower price, pay closing costs, give upgrade allowance, etc.
 
Among the usual clauses in a lease agreement, I have two that state:

"Failure by the tenant to maintain the interior and exterior of the premises in a neat, orderly, sanitary, and liveable manner will cause this agreement to become null and void and will result in the eviction of the tenants."

"NO PETS. The presence of a dog on the premises, either inside or out, regardless of circumstances, will cause this agreement to become null and void and will result in the eviction of the tenants without further discussion".

Every single time I've had a serious confrontation with a tenant, there's been a dog at the bottom of it. People will swear they have no pets, and two weeks later when you ring the doorbell a dog barks inside the house. Or people will say they're only keeping the dog for friends while they go on vacation. Only the friends never seem to come back from vacation. Meanwhile the dog is crapping all over the carpet and tearing it up with his paws.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. You need to lay down the law right from the start.
 
several years ago with my first wife I lived in a house i had bought when I left home and when I got married we bought another house and tried to sell my house for a year with no luck. So I rented it out so I wasnt having two payments. They were always late on there payments and always had some pitty me excuses. Got a divorce and had to move back home to mom and dads cause there rental agreement with me wasnt up yet. When it was it was a nitemare to get them out and when I finally did they had trashed my house.It was filthy, had big wholes they had made in the walls for some thing. horrible pet odors and he decided to do some "work"on the house after I had told them not to. After 3000 dollars and a lot of hard work and cleaning from my family and my wife we got it back in shape and still livin here now.I dont recommend it myself but I know what your sayin bout up keep on a place your not livin in but finding good renters is almost impossible. Just if you do make sure you have a good rental agreement and get a good safety deposit to help cover damages after they leave. Talk to other landlords they have rented from and it sounds bad but look at if there car is all beat up and full of crap well if they dont take care of there own things there not gonna take care of yours.
 
Having grown up with my parents managing several rental properties for an uncle that lived out of state I've seen and heard all kinds of things when it comes to rental properties. Now my wife and I are renting her ould house out for the same reason your renting, we can't sell in the current market without taking a huge loss on the place. Having done it ourselves for a year I can tell you that getting property manager is good start. Like others have said you have to treat it like a business and make sure you have a good lease. Notice I didn't say ironclad because with the way the laws, courts, and lawyers are nowdays everything seems to be skewed in favor of the renter anyway so you can only do so much.
If you can handle the taxes on the income the place brings in, that's up to you. On the other hand if it's not your primary source of income and all you want is for someone to be in there then get things situated where your getting everything paid for with thr rent but still not 'making' anything. In other words no income equals no taxes to pay out,and if you can spend a bit more than it brings in then it's a great write off too. In our case we take a small hit every month on the place we're renting out and between that and the write offs for other money spent to maintain it, the write offs for travel to and from the place to maintain it, etc, etc, etc, at the end of the year it really help out on the taxes. At the same time we're still gaining equity in the place and hopefully in a few years, when the housing market comes back a bit, we can get it sold and actually make a little bit for our efforts. Either that or get the rent to a point where everything is covered and we can actually make some money off of the place for a change, get it paid off quick, and then it's all profit.

Whatever you do though it can be PITA without a good property manager to take take the calls from the tenant, handle the small BS problems that some will have, etc, etc, etc. If you had to do it all yourself it would be a nightmare, ben there, done that.....
 
My pops used to be in the rental business. Make sure the property management company will actually "manage" the property. Don't just assume they will keep up with routine inspections of the house to make sure the renters aren't trashing it or have brought pets inside the house if restricted.

You get some good renters and good management companies and you get some bad too!
 
i have 3 rental properties, a total of 15 units. i manage and maintain them pretty much by myself, hiring contractors as necessary. get a good lease, do credit and criminal background checks, check references. have an attorney to handle evictions. i also have a good general carpenter, good plumber and good electrician. typically, i spend about 10 hours a month total to run all three buildings.
 
I've owned rental property in years past but dont want to do it in todays enviroment. The thing is if someone wants to move in and stop paying rent its a hassle to get them out even though Im an attorney and still they can trash the place and regardless what the lease said, if they are judgment proof (like many today who cant afford to buy) its hard to ever get a cent out of them.

If a client wants me to prepare a lease I tell them I can makie it a page or 100 and put every pro landlord clause under the book in it but see the above, if the tenants are jerks and judgment proof they are prob screwed.

John T Country Lawyer
 
You may speak in jest but such is not uncommon, and the rest of us pay for it.

Dean
 
Whoa--Let's get thiw straight you are the owner not the landlord. You hired a property manager to be the landlord.
Pay the man and enjoy the income(?).
 
I can see what a lot of you property owners are saying about renters because of bad experiences. But not all rental tenants are bad.
I rented a house for 7 years. Wasn't sure about job stability and all that. I rented because if my job played out, I wasn't stuck trying to sell a house. I always paid my rent on or before the due date each month.
I made minor repairs myself (like leaky faucets) but I kept receipts and soon as possible told the owner. Most of the time they would reimburse me. And if was something major (like A/C quit or windstorm blew shingles off the roof) I would notify them soon as possible and it would be fixed in a timely manner.
A few times I had to actually invite them over for coffee just so they could see the inside of my (their) house to show that it was being taken care of.
Last year when I finally decided to buy a house, they were the first to give me a excellent reference.
Like I said, I understand a lot of home owners have problems with renters. But then again not all renters are a bunch of rednecks with dogs and old cars on blocks in the front yard.
 
I have two rental houses. In the past 7 years they have been rented all but about 15 months between the two of them. That is about 89% of the time. Had a couple of morons in one of them but for the most part the road hasn't been too bumpy. I do a criminal and credit background on them.
If you don't want to heat it this winter I have just shut down the house a couple of times. No heat, bled all the water lines, poured antifreeze in toilets, sinks, etc with no ill effects to the house.
Nationally the last 4 or 5 years have been some of the worst in a generation for landlords/rentals.
There has been double digit % drops in rental prices and lots and lots of available housing for renters to choose from. Owners/landlords were forced to rent to some very shady tennants in order to keep the bills paid.
According to a couple of articles I've read the next couple of years will see the rental market turn around in favor of owners. Some areas of the US will see up to 20% increases in rents in the next couple of years.
I am somewhat encouraged about the future of my rentals and am hoping that in the next few years I will finally be able to make the places cash flow - ie carry themselves.
Being a landlord isn't for every one but it does have some advantages.
 
I agree with the cautious tone about tenants, even the best written lease is no guarantee. I'd want a clause that clearly stated that landlord (with advance or pre-determined times) is afforded the right to inspect the premises for cleanliness and maintenance, and conditions that are cause for eviction. Dogs & pets would have to be excluded. No subletting.

The problem is screening or judging your potential tenant, there are many not worth renting to period, then there are those who respect the place and do the right thing, how do you know who is who, references, credit checks help. I would be very blunt about concerns for making sure the place is well cared for and kept clean at all times. I've seen places so trashed, eviction proceedings, what a darned mess people can make. You get a decent tenant, its worth doing, but if you can't find a decent one, odds are it will cost you.

Local paper just did a story on a landlord tenant situation, though this is more inner city, low income, not to judge, but some people just have no respect, this place was a mess, some photos included.
Trashed Apartment
 
In this economy all houses will continue to loose value until real wages start to rise again, that will be five to maybe twenty years away.

Can you keep the house for sale with a renter in it? You'll be better off cutting your losses and selling it soon rather than to continue to pour money into it for no return.

You didn't say how old the house is or it's condition. If it's a hundred year old house that hasn't been renovated in fourty years it may be worth more as a bare lot or farm land than as a rental property or an acreage. Don't go back to your old realtor, talk to some different ones. Also get an appraisal from a dedicated appraiser, not a realtor.

If you are renting it out you're probly best off with the property manager, it keeps you out of the constant little hastles. You're manager will make way more out of the deal than you will, but you'll have some small cash flow until you decide what to do.

Good luck.
 
Get references check them out and do a Credit Check anything negative on their credit history do not rent to them.Anyone still renting after they are 40 years old probably has some major issues like not working,poor credit etc.
 
My dad died 10 years ago and his brick home has been empty ever since.I"d sooner pay to heat it than to put up with renters.Sooner or later it always turns bad.People rent for a reason,bad credit,drunks, party people and not much else.
 
Well if you can get a renter like me. You should do fine.
1 Pay my rent on time,never late.
2 Keep the yard up,mowed and cleaned every week.
3 All cars and truck running and up to date.
4 No loud music.
5 Drink BEER sometimes on the front porch. Pick up all cans and don't bother anyone.
6 Take care of the place the best I can. Owner buys the supplies. I do the repairs.
 
People can "seem" like anything.

Get references on them just like you would if they were applying for a job. Who were their landlords for the past two year - more than two and you have a huge issue. Who are their employers? Credit check? Criminal check?

I've foudn these people to be life savers when doing back ground checks. All you need is a name, SS number and a birth date.

http://www.easybackgrounds.com/

For around $100 you can find out just about anything if there's a paper trail.
 
Been a landlord for over 40 years. If you allow a property manager to do the work for you, you will be subjected to all the Federal and state guide lines under fair housing. If you don't use a property manager, you can rent it to whom you like, reject all the rests and not worry about being taken to court for violating any housing regulations.

I have my own contracts, do a criminal and credit background checks, and only have single family houses . I would NEVER USE A PROPERTY MANAGER! Lots of Luck!
George
 
Well Lyle,there you have it.
most says dont do it.
a couple guys says its ok if you do your home work.
a couple more would rather leave it sit or burn it.

Me says,let them pay 1/2 yrs rent rent up front and montly in advance.

DONT RENT TO NATIVES or to a guy without a steady job,but i think you know that.

Othere thing you might look into is sell it to move.

My brother had sold a housetrailer on rent to own basis before last winter.
Guy never paid a dime after the sec payment and neither did he pay taxes. The place was trashed come end of winter before he could kick the small puncture wound out.
 
Well, if you've already hired a property manager and signed a lease, it's a little bit late for anyone to be giving you advice. But here's mine anyway:

Personally, I would never hire a property manager. I don't know what it is that your property manager will do for you, but I am quite certain of one thing: He WILL collect his commision. Whether he's there for you when your tenants quit paying rent and you have to evict them, I cannot say.

The single most important bit of advice I can give you is this: Always tell yourself: THIS IS A BUSINESS. Your tenants aren't your friends, they aren't your enemies, they are the other party in a business transaction. Don't get chummy with your tenants. Whatever you do, don't do like my BIL and get into a romantic relationship with your tenant! And don't take it personal when they are late with the rent; just give them a call, listen to their hard-luck story for this month, and then drop an eviction notice in the mail.
 
Down on this side of the border That middle guy
"property manager" would have to hire a professional plumber , electrician for repairs.

So if you feel you may someday have a water heater , furnace , or a replacement electric stove or dryer.
 
If a prospective tenant wants to rent from you, ask him where does he live? Visit his house and see how the place is surviving. You may drop him soon as you make this observation. BTDT. Be mean and be careful. If you don't have to have the money, leave place empty. Dave
 
thanx guys for all the replys, you have giving me lots to think about. The property manager I got is a realastate agent and a very good friend of mine. The people I will be renting to are both professional people so Im hoping that will make a difference. I live just a stones throw away from the rental house so I can keep a close eye on it. The new renters know it is forsale and they are fine with a month by month rental agreement, but if a buyer comes along I will give them three months notice. It is always possible that they might end up buying it. I guess they are trying to sell the place they are moving out of. The reason they are moving here is because she will be teaching scool up here. I think Im going to hope for the best and see how things go. I value all your knowledge....Thanx again....Lyle
 
Not always true... Some people want to save up some money to buy a house with cash... or have the flexibility of giving 30 days notice and being able to move.

Not all renters are bad... but a lot are.
 
(quoted from post at 20:54:09 08/08/11) thanx guys for all the replys, you have giving me lots to think about. The property manager I got is a realastate agent and a very good friend of mine. The people I will be renting to are both professional people so Im hoping that will make a difference. I live just a stones throw away from the rental house so I can keep a close eye on it. The new renters know it is forsale and they are fine with a month by month rental agreement, but if a buyer comes along I will give them three months notice. It is always possible that they might end up buying it. I guess they are trying to sell the place they are moving out of. The reason they are moving here is because she will be teaching scool up here. I think Im going to hope for the best and see how things go. I value all your knowledge....Thanx again....Lyle
Click to expand...

Point#2.....NEVER ENTER INTO A BUSINESS DEAL WITH A GOOD FRIEND!!!
Unless you're tired of him mooching your beer and weenies and just want to get rid of him....... If that's the case, there are cheaper ways of doing it....

Good Luck tho.
 
I agree Dave, friends and money don't mix! Dogs and cats don't mix in the rental business either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Slow lane 49
Couldn't say no to a 350 Utility
Replies
18
Views
1K
Slow lane 49
Slow lane 49
R
I'm calling it quits-a bit long
2 3
Replies
51
Views
4K
SDE
S
olgentdc
B-i-L Joel passed away His Eulogy 10-22--56/// 11-8--
Replies
9
Views
996
olgentdc
olgentdc
F
Is a Mitsubishi or Yanmar worthy of consideration?
Replies
13
Views
2K
jaoneill
J
A
Need advice 2N purchase
2
Replies
27
Views
3K
Caryc
C
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top