Introducing myself, and a newbie question

[Nick Yanutola]

Hello bigger pockets,

I found the website yesterday while searching for information on tax deductions for landlords.  It looks great so far!

I hope this is the right forum for this question.  If not, feel free to move to the appropriate place.

I did what I'm sure is extremely common here... last summer after 8 years in my former residence, I just randomly saw another house nearby that I really liked, and bought it.  Now I need to decide what to do with the former.

At the moment, I've done something that I'm sure any professional would recommend against; I have a handshake deal (we did sign a generic rental agreement contract my realtor gave me) with some short term renters that intend to be there until the April/May timeframe when their new house is complete.  I didn't have any existing plans to rent it out before they just kind of fell into my lap, and at the time we thought it was kind of the perfect timeframe for both of us.  I figured they could pay my mortgage until spring, when I understand sales conditions are better.

However, now I'm thinking about renting it out on a more permanent basis, and I want to make a decision on what to do before they move out, and also if that decision is the rent it out, I want to have a plan in place for a more structured application and contract process that better protects me.

I have worked up a list of inputs that I can share and hopefully have critiqued, but I guess I'll stop there for now and see if other people would recommend doing this, and if so, what preconditions do more experienced folks think should be met before you would make a decision to rent the house out?

Thanks

Nick