First step to renting out home for as income property?

Question

I currently have a 4 bedroom house that I am interested in renting out as income property and was wondering what are the most important renovations to be made for that? And also the first steps to renting out a house in general?

Mike Hanneman · Answer

@Dave Visaya just a question, but do you ever contribute anything meaningful in any of your posts?

@Christina Harris As for renovations, you need to see what the comparables for rentals in your area are? Most of the time a person can convert their home to a rental with ease. Rentals aren't like selling where you want everything as close to perfect to fetch top dollar. With rentals you want the stuff that can cause problems, either liability or with future maintenance issues resolved without spending too much but still doing it right.

The first step to renting out a house is learning your state landlord/tenant laws and making sure you can comply. Then getting your system/process in order. You should look into reading some books about being a landlord before just jumping in. Most books on the matter shouldn't take oyu more then a few days to a week to read.

Dave Visaya · Answer

Hey @Christina Harris, welcome to BiggerPockets! It is great to have you and please feel free to jump in the community - there are certainly great people around here!

And oh, learn how to use BiggerPockets to grow your business by checking this quick guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/biz

See you around!