Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 9 posts · 4 votes
I have a condo in Santa Monica. I recently paid off the mortgage and will be working out of town on and off for the next year. Just wondering what it's like to rent out your primary residence for a year and then return - I have reservations about moving forward with this idea. Any advice much appreciated BP'ers!
Investor · Marietta, GA · Member since 2015 · 382 posts · 258 votes
10y
Hi Elle,
This is actually how we started off. It has worked out well. We now have 3 prior primary residence rentals. I would highly recommend that you get a management company since this is your first time. They will secure your first renter (screen, interview, confirm data, etc) Your out of pocket costs will be a bit higher with a management company but trust me, there are hundreds of different possible situations that you will find yourself in and feeling unprepared. Also, once you get a rental contract / lease, you will be in a position to buy another primary home when your return in one year thus having someone pay your mortgage down (if you wish). I feel comfortable managing some of our homes myself now but I would not recommend self management just yet.
Real Estate Agent · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
We just did this, only it was for 11 months, not a full year. It worked out very well as they were looking to buy a home in the area and needed the time to prepare, so it was a win-win. We did not hire a property manager as I didn't want to lose my exemption status from standard landlord/tenant laws and I wanted to be very picky screening and choose someone I felt comfortable leaving my personal residence with as we were returning in 11 months and I wanted no problems on our return. Property managers don't have the same freedoms a private owner with less than 4 homes in the state has. Our city is very strict and tenant friendly, and I know from experience that property managers don't choose with the same level of care that I would, myself. I would suggest you make sure you read up on additional required language or terms that your city has. I had to add a lot of required clauses about deposits and interest and actually had to disclose why I wasn't offering a one-year lease. This was totally different from my rentals in another state where it is not so tenant-friendly.