Seeking advice on renting out my home with limited landlord experience

[Felipe Manoloff]

Hi all,

I’m hoping to get some advice from those more experienced in real estate and property management. I have only owned  a home in Texas for 1,5 years, and my family and I may be relocating to another state within the next 12 months. Instead of selling the house and losing a significant amount to closing costs, so we also considered renting it out.

The challenge is that I don’t have much experience as a landlord. I’ve already reached out to a few property management companies, and while they would handle most of the responsibilities, they’ve informed me that we’d likely rent the property for $500-$600 less than our mortgage payment. Additionally, the management companies would take around 10% of the rent for their services.

Given this, I'm exploring whether it would be a smart move to refinance when interest rates drop, and possibly form an LLC to transfer the property into. I'm thinking this could help us with tax deductions, especially if we operate at a loss.

Does anyone have experience with a situation like this? Are there specific pros and cons I should consider when it comes to refinancing, forming an LLC, or even continuing with the rental given the negative cash flow?

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!