Estimating Rents in Suburban Missouri

[Chad Clemons]

I'm thinking of turning my primary residence into a rental and then purchasing a new residence for myself. In order to decide if it makes good sense, I'm trying to determine what the market rent rate would be for my home. It's in a small suburb, bordering on rural area, about 30 minutes outside Kansas City, Missouri. It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house on about 5 acres. What are some good resources for determining what a reasonable rent would be for this property? I'm new, so any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Dan Krupa]

@Chad Clemons - rentometer is decent. We own and run a property management company (Fountain City Property Solutions) Rentometer is one of the tools we use however, I would also recommend craigslist, zillow and if you have it MLS access. Properties like yours are unique. Not as simple to find a rental price as a suburban neighborhood house. It takes longer to find clients for a property like the one you own but the turn over is much lower. Please make sure you screen really well, follow all the MO and federal fair housing rules and regs, and document everything. I have seen a lot of owners get themselves into trouble. Brandon Turner's "The Book On Managing Rental Properties" will give you a ton of great info and keep you out of trouble if you decide to not use a property management company. Good luck.