Guideline for renting out condo apartment in Seattle, WA

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Guideline for renting out condo apartment in Seattle, WA

Ajeet Ganga
Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2014 · 13 posts · 1 vote

Hello Friends,

 I had bought my condo in Belltown-Seattle, about two years ago, but now I have to move to a different state due to job. 

The condo is new (2008 built) and is close to zero maintenance, bar things such as batteries in smoke detector and light-bulbs. The outside maintenance  is covered by condo-association. Considering, what I think is, the good location, getting it rented should not be issue.

Can you guys advise me on:

1. Correct rental price discovery : Can I rely on  Zillow estimates alone ?  How do I factor in unique things about my apartment, such as courtyard view, insulated from three sides (no noise), above the (seldom used) gym.

2.  Lease agreement :  Is there actual standard one year lease agreement for Washington state ?  Is there usual/default lease agreement I should read about ?

What I am using : 

http://rentalleaseagreement.org/wa/washington-stan...

3. Filtering/choosing of the lessee :  What criteria I should use to filter/choose lessee. 

What I am using  :  Credit score of above 700, no collection account.

4. Broker vs self :  Are there any advantages of using broker ? (Currently I have posted on Craiglist/Zillow and I am getting couple of calls.)

5. Any other thing I should be aware of ? 

Also I am curious, if I should rent out place fully furnished at higher rent vs unfurnished.

I also wonder about experimenting leasing individual bedrooms instead of who apartment.

Please advise, and thank you in advance. :)  

-Ajeet

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  • Account Closed
    San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    11y

    First, make sure you can rent the condo under your HOA rules.

    I suggest these books:

    http://www.nolo.com/products/landlord-tenant/landl...

    Great books on choosing tenants, contracts, forms, laws, everything you need and they're really affordable.  I used their CA one.

    @Marcia Maynard ( hashtag thing not working, but I think that's the spelling of her name), rents in the Vancouver, WA area, and is active on BP, and can probably give you great advice for WA rentals.

    Personally, I would not get into renting separate rooms, from far away.  You could make more money with a furnished short-term rental, but they require a lot more management.  For ease of management, I'd rent it unfurnished.  Tenants will always want you to move out certain pieces of furniture, even if they want the other pieces, unless they're a short-term renter.  It's just a pain.  And once you factor in the turnover, and if you're also paying a manager to deal with the turnovers, you'll probably not profit anyway.

    So, I vote you rent it to a one-year lease tenant, unfurnished.  

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  • Patrick Britton
    Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 997 votes
    11y

    have you thought about a property management company to do all the heavy lifting?  just because someone has decent credit doesnt mean they won't trash the place. 

    but as @Account Closed, check your HOA.

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  • Christopher Hunter
    Real Estate Investor · Cypress, CA · Member since 2013 · 877 posts · 94 votes
    11y

    @Ajeet Ganga

    Hello Ajeet,

    Are you facing the water or city side?  I am formally from Federal Way.  What is your time worth?  You appear to have a lot of valid concerns.  Why not interview a few PM's and learn what there process is and ask if you sit in on some client reviews to see how they would choose a tenant for your property.

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