Paid off home—Perfect Rental—How Would You Get Started?

[Claire Aillet]

My 3 bedroom 2 bath home is paid off. I paid for it with inheritance. I have never had a mortgage. I am a 38 year old female. I am in the LSU Business Management program working on my Bachelor’s degree. I have two dogs, but I have always been a wandering spirit. I want to prepare my home for renting, and my plans are to buy a motor home to live in for the time being. I am wanting to shed some of my material items to go chase some experience. My plans are to eventually settle in the Nashville area. 

My home is about 1350 soft. Three other houses sold last year for $189,000. My neighborhood is older and is mostly renters or lease-to-purchase owners. I am in the perfect house to turn into a rental. I want to fund my life through managing properties and investments, doing a little bit of hair (I used to have a salon and now I just have about 2 clients a week that I still do for now), and I plan to get into small business strategy consulting after graduation. Rentals will not be my only source of income for the next year—but I want to get close to it being a significant source by the time I graduate LSU in the fall. I so have some updates to make on my home. It needs new appliances and some minor repairs. The major project will be the floors. I am ripping up the 40 year old carpet. 

If this was your current situation (paid off house in my location) and had less than stellar credit, what would you strategy be to scale quickly but sustainably? 

[Nadeem Alamgir]

Hey Claire, since your property is paid off, a HELOC or cash out refinance could help you access equity to fund another property. If you're looking to finance a rental purchase, a DSCR loan could be an option, as it focuses more on the property's income rather than your personal credit score.

In the meantime, you can get your current property rent ready while also working on improving your credit. Boosting your score doesn’t take long, and there are services that can review your credit history and help you increase it within a couple of months. I know many of these services seem shady, but once you vet them out you'll find someone legitimate that can give you the full run down. Best of luck!