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Anyone from the Cary area renting their home presently, or in the past? If so, how did you manage it? What was your experience? I keep hearing that renters in Cary are soooo great, but I'm still scared.
The property manager I've spoken with claims he has only had a couple of very bad renters over the years. He checks credit and only the best of the best will do. He claims if they have very good credit, then 99% of the time they intend to keep it that way and wrecking your home is a sure fire way to ruin it.
I don't know......... for some reason I still picture the husband who is a doctor, and the wife who is a school teacher taking a cruise and leaving teenage Johnny home alone. He decides to have a beer keg party. You get where I'm going here?
So, what has been your exerience, good, or bad with renting out your home?
We have a rental home in our neighborhood and they just don't take care of the outside like the rest of the neighbors do, the HOA has sent numerous letters. Not sure what the inside looks like. If your house it going to be just for income I would maybe give it a try if you will be on hand to make sure the renters are treating it right. If you will be out of state I wouldn't rent it out. Thats my opinion.
I can't comment specifically on Cary since I don't live in the area (yet). However, there are a few rentals in my neighborhood. Most are rented by homeowners who are transferred abroad for 2-3 years, and they want to move back into their home upon their return. We even had a situation where the tenants loved the home so much that they asked to stay when they learned about the homeowners returning to the U.S. Guess what the homeowners did? They purchased another home in the neighborhood and continued renting their original property out to relocated families on 12-24 month assignments. Can be very lucrative if your area is quite transient.
As others have said, screening is the key. Look for excellent credit and collect a hefty deposit. Most homes in our neighborhood rent for $4k-5k/month and the security deposit is typically $12-15k, sometimes more. We get a lot of families from Europe, so checking credit is more difficult. In those situations the employer is required to co-sign the lease agreement. Most people are less likely to willfully damage the property if they know their employer will be informed of their actions. Make sure your lease has a clause about the tenants following the HOA rules (have them initial it), and be sure to provide them with a copy of the rules. If your clubhouse privileges are transferrable, remember to include all club dues, HOA fees, taxes, property mgmt fees, etc. in your rental rate. Also document clear rules about lease violations and how you will deal with them (fines, eviction, etc.). Ditto for how repairs will be handled. Everything needs to be in writing. Have your atty review the lease agreement, if necessary.
Remember to inform your home insurance company that the home is no longer owner-occupied. Get proper liability coverage, and require the tenants to have renters insurance.
I have a rental next door and one down the street. The one next door the owner manages and he screens very well. Have had 3 very quiet, nice renters over the last 7 years. The current one has painted and improved the property (with the owners permission) and takes care of it as if it was his own.
The ones across the street... they use a management company that does not seem as picky. There have been a few renters... and I think two of them have had police show up and do a raid. The best is when they started throwing items at one of their friends cars and smash the windshield at 4 AM.
So make sure whomever you use does good screening of the renters, credit alone is not ebough (as many in the mortgage industry have learned). The good ones meet the people, do a background check on their prior rentals and jobs and get to know the people to make sure they are responsible.
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