Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Renting Out Your Home

If you want to rent out a property you own rather than sell it, there’s definitely a right and a
wrong way to do it. Renting out your home can help you pay your mortgage and even leave you
with a small profit every month. Or it can end up costing you. If you want to rent out your home
the right way, consider these tips:

1. Calculate how much your going to charge for rent with care – Take your mortgage and all the insurance you’ve taken out on your house into consideration. Additionally, see how much other rental properties are charging each month in your area. Ideally, the amount you charge you tenants each month should cover your expenses related to the home, and it should be in the same ballpark with what other landlords in your neighborhood are charging. If you need to charge a hundred dollars or so more each month than other landlords in your area are charging, don’t hesitate to do it. It may take you a little longer to find tenants, but it will pay off in the end.

2. Screen your tenants wisely – Unfortunately, just because someone looks like a good, honest person doesn’t mean that they are a good, honest person. It’s a wise practice to do a credit check on each of your prospective tenants. Bad credit isn’t necessarily always an indication that someone won’t pay his or her rent. However, you should look for red flags like evictions on
credit reports or a dramatically low credit score. Additionally, you should ask that all prospective
tenants provide proof of income before you hand the keys to the house over to them.

3. Inspect the home – Before the new tenants move in, get an electrician and a plumber to cometo your home and inspect the appliances, air conditioning, gas, tubs, and faucets. You don't
want the tenants to move in only to realize that you have to make thousands of dollars worth of
repairs. It’s best to be proactive and take care of any home-related issues before they move in,
since their daily use of things in the home can exacerbate issues.

Renting out your home doesn’t have to be a financial headache or a source of stress in your life.
Follow the tips above, and get the most out of being a landlord!

Carolyn is a guest blogger who writes about personal finance, small business finance, and ecommerce order management involving Shopify, BigCommerce, and 3dcart.