Making the transition from simple homeowner to the landlord can be daunting. However, knowing how to rent your house doesn’t have to be overwhelming. There are simple things you can do to make becoming a landlord go smoothly for you and your tenant.
With our experience, Keyrenter East Bay, a property management company in El Cerrito, can provide you with some helpful tips.
Change Your Mindset
Maybe you have never seen yourself as a landlord. Maybe you are considering taking this step because you’ve had to relocate but aren’t ready to sell your house. Maybe you hope to become a real estate mogul. Whatever your reasons for becoming a landlord, it is important to determine if you are ready for the responsibility.
While renting out your house can mean extra income, it can also mean extra expenses too. You need to make sure you have money available for unexpected expenses. You will want to make changes to your insurance coverage. Also, you need to evaluate the rental market in your area and gauge if it makes financial sense to offer your home to the rental market.
Mostly, it’s important to remember that as a landlord you are providing housing to someone and you want to make sure that process goes smoothly for everyone. Retaining our property management team can be beneficial to you and your tenant. A professional from Keyrenter East Bay can help you figure out how to rent your house.
Prepare Your Home
One of the most important things you can do when renting out your house is simply getting the property in order. It is a good idea to go through the home room by room and double check that everything is functioning as it should.
We suggest paying special attention to safety issues. For example, in older homes, you will want to make sure the wiring is safe. In all homes, it is a good idea to install fire detectors and provide fire extinguishers for each floor of the house. You may consider installing a carbon monoxide detectors as well.
Second to safety, a thorough cleaning is most important. Clean out all kitchen cupboards. Steam clean carpets. Recaulk the bathtub. We have found that presenting a home that is at its very cleanest is the most important step you can take to make your home appealing. When deciding how to rent your house, you’ll want to decide if you want to include appliances. If you do, give them a good scrubbing and check over the washer, dryer, refrigerator, and dishwasher to make sure they are working properly.
Double-check that the home is in good repair. Is there a closet door that keeps coming off the track or a few creaky floorboards in the hallway? Now is the time to get those little items in working order. Any leaky pipes or running toilets? Get them fixed. How about pests? If you have had any issues with creepy crawlies, banish them before a tenant sees them. Few things are more off-putting than ants crawling on the kitchen cupboard or roaches skittering across the floor.
Make sure the lighting is functioning on the inside and outside of the house. Exterior lighting helps tenants feel safer and helps deter crime. Give a careful inspection to the outside of your house as well, making sure that the roof is sound and pathways are free of tripping hazards.
If you haven’t painted recently, you will want to repaint the interior. If you want to know how to rent your house, make sure you choose colors that are neutral and bright, which will have broad appeal to the most renters.
We can provide information on getting your property in tiptop shape.
Find Tenants
After you get your house in order, it is time to seek out a good renter. A bad renter can set back all the hard work you have put into preparing your house. Our property managers in El Cerrito can help you avoid pitfalls when selecting a tenant.
There are few things more personal than a home and it may be tempting to entrust yours to a renter you know, be it, family or friend. Usually, it is better to keep your rental business separate from your personal life. As tempting as it might be, finding a reputable tenant you don’t know is far better than going with an iffy one you know well.
When picking a tenant, it is important to remember you are looking for someone who will dependably pay their rent on time and who will maintain your home in an acceptable manner. Make sure to have potential tenants provide personal references and check their credit histories as well.
Also, make sure you don’t let personal biases influence to whom you rent. The Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination for a variety of reason from the race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability to having children. Local municipalities can enact their own protections and ordinance involving housing too. As a property management company in El Cerrito, we can help you meet all your legal obligations.
There are a lot of things to consider when renting your home but with the help of a property manager, you don’t have to figure out how to rent your house alone.
