Renting out primary residence, Auburn, WA

[Logan Shefelbine]

The time has come to move out my current house and move to a new home. I want to keep my current property and rent it out. This will be my first rental. Where should I start? I’m looking to figure out a lease, background check, how to collect online payments, best places to advertise the property and anything other insightful tips anyone can give. I am planning on managing the property myself. Thanks in advance.

[Alex Smith]

Logan, welcome to REI! There are a few things that you'll want to consider before you even start thinking about the general operations of your rental that you mentioned. Maybe you've already done these things, but you didn't mention that you did.

Have you figured out if your property will cash flow after HOAs, taxes, mortgage, insurance, management (even if you're self managing you'll want to account for this), maintenance, capex, etc.? This is where you should start if you haven't already.