Renting out my house, advice for a first time landlord

[Sam Harover]

Hey All,

I'm moving in a month and I plan to rent out our current house starting December 1. The price range this house falls in will cashflow pretty well, so my main concern is getting things right from the start.

Legally I've read I need to change my home insurance, any other issues I should look into? I've been a resident for over a year, and reading over our loan there should be no issues there.

Should I provide a lawnmower and have my tenants mow, or outsource for that?

I'll be living in a different state, I have people that can come over and check on serious things, but what about little stuff, like changing air filters. Is it acceptable to have your tenants do that?

Should I provide a washer and dryer?

Really any other advice would be amazing. We have a lot of life changes going on at the moment, so there's plenty of logical questions I have that I can't think of at the moment.

Thanks,

Sam

[Forrest Faulconer]

Hey @Sam Harover, my first landlording experience was renting out our home and moving out of country, I can relate! A washer/dryer is not required but can be a plus, plenty of quality used ones online. I recommend cleaning it up well and having professional pictures taken for advertising, schedule showings on the same day or weekend in time slots, advertise through all means you can think of: Zillow, apartments.com, trulia, cozy etc. Screen and interview well!!!

I would invest in a lawnmower and have in the lease that the tenant is responsible for maintaining the lawn. If your property is more high maintenance you may want to invest in a landscape person. I trimmed back trees and vines way back to minimize the need for that. Installed gutter protectors to reduce cleaning those out. When you leave the house leave it clean, trimmed, tidy to set the expectations high.

I bought and mailed my tenants a years worth of air filters to replace and root killer for the sewage line. I had them set reminders on their phones, I did as well and sent a text when it was the right time. 

I essentially thought of everything that could be set up ahead of time to drastically reduce the upkeep. I ended up having A+ tenants that treated the house as their own. I don't know if I just got lucky or if putting in the extra effort paid off! Maybe a little bit of both!

Good luck!

Forrest