Owned my house for 6 years, some questions about renting it out.

[William Carr]

Bought the house as a short sale at 260k and it recently got appraised for 320k, Mortgage is $1692. House was built in 84 and is in great shape with new carpets upstairs. My only concern is my ac unit is from 84 and still running good but I know its on its last leg. 

Im assuming I would need to fix that first before renting it out but I was just looking for any advice on why it would be good to rent out my house instead of selling for the profit and moving up?  Makes me nervous but I have seen people on here say they wished they would have rented out their first house instead of just selling. Since I got this house as a ss foreclosure I figure I am in a good position here. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Nicole A.]

Does the $1692 include property tax and insurance? If not, you need to factor that cost in.

The AC would need replacing before it breaks. Is the furnace also just as old? I just replaced both the AC and furnace in my personal SFH for just over $7200. They were both also from the 1980s!

What kind of rent can your home demand? Look up similar rentals nearby on Zillow and Craigslist. They need to truly be similar to get a good idea on what you can demand for rent. Also look to see if these rentals are including any utilities or not to further determine what you can get. Does your area have a strong rental demand on your type of home?

Once you have that number, does it pay for your FULL mortgage (to include property tax, insurance, any HOA, etc)? Hopefully it pays more so that it will fund future repairs/maintenance the house will need.

Does the house have any unfinished projects? Damaged items that need repair? Severely outdated rooms, appliances, and the like? How much money would it take to get it rent-ready? You say it's in great shape, so hopefully not much or nothing.

If the cost to get it ready is not worth the rent income, don't rent it. If the rental income will not more than cover the mortgage, don't rent it.

Generally speaking, we are in a seller's market right now. So that's always a good option if renting would only cost you money each month. 

Don't be nervous based on other people's regrets. Just stay logical and listen to the numbers. And don't emotionally inflate numbers either such as saying you could get X amount more in rent because your house is so beautiful (when others just like it only get another lower amount).