Should I rent my house out or sell it ?

[AlterEgo42]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

What you describe works well, but rather than "saving" the management fee you have simply employed yourself for that amount to be on call and ready to handle whatever might come up 24/7/365.

If you enjoy it and can execute well, that's actually great. Most DIY landlords are not as organized and prepared as you.

Our standard repair cap is $500, but "no choice" situations, like a tree falling on the house, or AC broke, are exempt "at Broker's sole discretion".

Steve

Money not spent is money saved - and like I said, if my situation were different, I’d likely enlist a PM service, although most of them are basically just someone that answers the phone sometimes.

My business runs pretty much 24/7 anyway, so what’s one or two more phone calls? If there was another property in the mix, or the SFH was truly a long term rental, I’d probably just sell everything.

[ClydeAJones]

Steve,

I forgot to mention in my last post, if you have a recommendation for north of Austin, I'd be interested in that also. TIA.

[LJudy9872]

Being a landlord definitely can be very stressful and overwhelming, however, that all depends on the quality of your tenant. Having a good tenant will be an easy second income for you while having a bad tenant can be a nightmare. When choosing potential tenants for my properties, there are a few things I always try and do:

I always like to meet the candidate in person at least twice before offering them a lease agreement. This gives you enough time to get a sense of how they carry themselves/treat their property. You should get a glance at the condition of their car, because chances are that they will treat your property the same.

I also charge an application fee that I used to pay for a tenant screening. I personally use https://www.myrental.com/ because they offer credit reports, criminal background checks, sex offender registry checks and more. They compile all of this information into an easy-to-understand "tenant score" which ranks tenants on a scale of likeliness to default on a lease.

Lastly, I always ask for at least 2 references from previous employers/landlords because they are much less biased than friends or family would be.