Renting out my house, advice for a first time landlord

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Renting out my house, advice for a first time landlord

Sam Harover
Member since 2020 · 10 posts · 2 votes

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


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  • Forrest Faulconer
    Real Estate Agent · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2020 · 471 posts · 462 votes
    5y

    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

    3Reply
  • Sam Harover
    OP
    Member since 2020 · 10 posts · 2 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @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

    Forrest,

    Thanks for all of the great advice, I really appreciate it. Best of luck on all your future endeavors. 

    1Reply
  • Adam Lippa
    Investor · VT · Member since 2020 · 18 posts · 3 votes
    5y

    Just a quick thought on the lawn.... Not sure how big it is but the downstairs tenant in one of my rentals agreed to mow the lawn if I left him access to a mower. I was trying out a battery powered one (smaller lot) and left it. It seems to work well as there is no gas/oil and less on going maintenance for the machine. The cut isn't quite as nice, IMO, but the reduced headache is worth it. Tenants are not only mowing the lawn but also keep some plants/landscaping with the place looking nice!

    1Reply
  • Sam Harover
    OP
    Member since 2020 · 10 posts · 2 votes
    5y

    @Adam Lippa Thanks for the note Adam.

    I haven't been on in a while and just saw this. I ended up buying a reliable small mower for the tenants to use, and included yard upkeep in the lease for them.

    The girls I'm renting to work in a nursery, and as parts of the back yard have nothing really growing there, I told them to feel free to plant whatever they wanted.

    They seemed to take some pride in how it looks and enjoy it, plus it saves me from paying some super expensive bi-weekly bill to have some professionals come do it.

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