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I have been house searching for a while. My idea is to buy a nice house, rent it outfor few years to lower the mortgage & then move into it when I need thebigger house. But I am worried abouttenants ruining the house.
My brotherhas done this for past year, he is at his 2 tenants & thehouse is still in mint condition. Butduring my house search I came across a 2002 build house that lookedhorrible. It was in a great locationfairly new build but looked horrible. Iwas shocked and assumed the home owner were slobs. I later found out, the housewas rented out for past 4 years as the original owner moved out of state.
This got me worried about renting out a place I want to livein. My husband suggested best way tokeep house in good condition while renting is to change tenants so no one feelscomfortable at home. His theory ispeople start abusing their rental place when they feel comfortable/settled& if you constantly change them, they will be in their best behavior.
Does that theory make sense? What is the best way to selectgood tenants & make sure house is not being abused?
Good gracious, that makes absolutely no sense at all!
Being a landlord is a business and you have to run it as such. Learn your state landlord tenant laws (linked in the first "sticky" on this forum), put together a good lease and pass it by an attorney who can tailor it to your specific needs and property. You take applications from tenants and do background checks; you take a security deposit to cover damage other than normal wear and tear after they move out; you check on your property now and then to make sure everything is going well - plus a million and one other things.
You may want to start out using a reputable property management company to handle everything. Good luck!
By all means get a good property manager. It's a tough business and a lot tougher if you don't know what you're doing.
Remember once it's a business you get to write off all upgrades and repairs.
Do not change renters every year, that makes no sense at all, and it cost money to change tenants. The longer they stay the better.
My MIL has rented a home for over 20 years, she has paid for the home for the owner. I wish I could find renters like her...
IMHO Your Husband is NUTS! Do u plan to tell folks O I only give xx time of lease & I will Not renew your lease No matter how good a tenant you are?!? And even IF you don't tell them after a while they will find out!
I have been house searching for a while. My idea is to buy a nice house, rent it outfor few years to lower the mortgage & then move into it when I need thebigger house. But I am worried abouttenants ruining the house.
My brotherhas done this for past year, he is at his 2 tenants & thehouse is still in mint condition. Butduring my house search I came across a 2002 build house that lookedhorrible. It was in a great locationfairly new build but looked horrible. Iwas shocked and assumed the home owner were slobs. I later found out, the housewas rented out for past 4 years as the original owner moved out of state.
This got me worried about renting out a place I want to livein. My husband suggested best way tokeep house in good condition while renting is to change tenants so no one feelscomfortable at home. His theory ispeople start abusing their rental place when they feel comfortable/settled& if you constantly change them, they will be in their best behavior.
Does that theory make sense? What is the best way to selectgood tenants & make sure house is not being abused?
I'm comfortable in the home before I ever move in because if it doesn't feel right to me then I won't rent the place.
We have been in our rental home for a wee bit over 4 years now and it is in better shape now than it was when we moved in but we have added some things that should have been added years ago and the landlord has made repairs promptly and upgrades when asked if they felt it increased the practicality and usefulness of the home.
It sounds as if neither you nor your husband are experienced when it comes to renters and I would suggest putting off a home purchase until you are ready to move into the home yourself.
It will more than likely save you a lot of aggravation and worry in the future.
As far as choosing a good renter that one is a shot in the dark, someone can have glowing references but only because their current landlord wants them out of their own property because they are terrible renters who break things all the time and complain about every little item.
PS ~~ Renters are not like dogs, you do not train renters and reward their good behavior.
I have been house searching for a while. My idea is to buy a nice house, rent it outfor few years to lower the mortgage & then move into it when I need thebigger house. But I am worried abouttenants ruining the house.
My brotherhas done this for past year, he is at his 2 tenants & thehouse is still in mint condition. Butduring my house search I came across a 2002 build house that lookedhorrible. It was in a great locationfairly new build but looked horrible. Iwas shocked and assumed the home owner were slobs. I later found out, the housewas rented out for past 4 years as the original owner moved out of state.
This got me worried about renting out a place I want to livein. My husband suggested best way tokeep house in good condition while renting is to change tenants so no one feelscomfortable at home. His theory ispeople start abusing their rental place when they feel comfortable/settled& if you constantly change them, they will be in their best behavior.
Does that theory make sense? What is the best way to selectgood tenants & make sure house is not being abused?
Qualify tenants based on good credit, 2.5 to 3 x's rent in gross income, call last 2 landlords for a a reference. Do an inspection every 6 months. Fix what needs repair right away.
Hire a good property manager and know the law as it applies to you.
However we have seen owners who don't care if their tenant turns out to be a harder to keep them as long as possible and than spend thousands when they move out but most owners prefer to have good tenants who stay long term and feel like they own their home.
The better the house looks when tenants move in that is usually the tenant that will maintain the house the best.
We also had some very good tenants coming from short sale homes who were embarrassed to become renters and they maintain he house so well and pay on time to see the least of a property manager so neighbors feel like it is an owner next door.
Bad maintained house, means bad tenant or what we call you get what you deserve.
Quote:
Originally Posted by keraT
I have been house searching for a while. My idea is to buy a nice house, rent it outfor few years to lower the mortgage & then move into it when I need thebigger house. But I am worried abouttenants ruining the house.
My brotherhas done this for past year, he is at his 2 tenants & thehouse is still in mint condition. Butduring my house search I came across a 2002 build house that lookedhorrible. It was in a great locationfairly new build but looked horrible. Iwas shocked and assumed the home owner were slobs. I later found out, the housewas rented out for past 4 years as the original owner moved out of state.
This got me worried about renting out a place I want to livein. My husband suggested best way tokeep house in good condition while renting is to change tenants so no one feelscomfortable at home. His theory ispeople start abusing their rental place when they feel comfortable/settled& if you constantly change them, they will be in their best behavior.
Does that theory make sense? What is the best way to selectgood tenants & make sure house is not being abused?
If you get a bad tenant, they can turn your house into a trash dump in only a couple of months. Changing tenants once a year will do nothing for you except to give you a lot of turnover.
The trick is to screen carefully, get good tenants, and hope they stay.
And have an inspection every 3 months. Reason: a water leak left for 6 months will already have caused severe damage; one found after 3 months is generally less costly to repair.
Change tenants yearly to increase the odds of getting a bad one at some point.
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