Questions on renting out your primary residence. (NOT HOUSE HACKING) TIA.

[Brandon Smith]

I currently own a 2020 construction, 4 bed, 2 bath SFR. Financed with an FHA loan and mortgage being right about $2,000 monthly, included escrow for insurance and homeowners' insurance. I also have solar panels on the property with a monthly loan payment of approximately $150 a month. I am also a disabled veteran at 70%, so I don't get 100% off of property taxes, but I do get a discount, in addition to the benefits of homestead exemption.

My family and I are moving out of the property, and I would like to attempt to rent it, before putting it on the market. My family will be staying with family until the house is rented/sold and will then be getting an apartment. 

My questions are as follows:

Since I won't be purchasing another SFR to own, It seems like I could keep the homestead and DV tax reductions in place, along with my current loan. Am I correct in this thought?

Would I want to remove the home-owners insurance and replace that with a Land Lord Insurance policy? If so, anyone happen to know what those rates look like in San Antonio? 

I would rather spend the money for a different insurance policy that would insure full rebuild cost. Last thing I want to happen is for an accident to happen and the home-owner's poicy refuse to remit payment because it was actually being rented out. I also don't know if changing the insurance policy would also require me to loose the homestead exemption and DV discount on the property taxes. 

My biggest concern is: I would like to have this property cash flow $200 monthly and I'm not sure if the market would be able to support that high amount of rent. At rough numbers, I'm thinking rent would look something like $2500 or a little more. 

I'm sure there are other things I am not accounting for, so any additional suggestions or recommendations would be great! 

Thank you. 

[Jeremy Rosen]

Hi Brandon, depending on the location you could probably cash flow more than that as a short term rental or mid-term rental. I currently manage 12 in San Antonio with a 4.98 overall review score and I'd be happy to give you a revenue projection. Send me a DM with the address and I can get that to you relatively quickly. Also, there's specific insurance policies (not simply landlord policies) that cover you for commercial use like STR. Companies like Proper Insurance can be both your homeowners policy and STR commercial policy in one.