In PA, need general guidance on renting my house (tenants, contingent, disclosures)

[Flyers Girl]

Hello. My prior house has been on the market for quite awhile and I'm now considering taking it off the market and renting it out. Since this will be my first time as a "landlord," I'm just looking for some general guidance on things that I need to get lined up prior to putting the house up and finding tenants. I'd love to use a property manager so as to avoid emergency fixes, but considering it's just a single property, I don't think I'd find a company with a low enough fee to make sense for me.


Some facts:

• House is a 3-bedroom/1-bath "twin" (i.e., side-by-side attached homes);
• House shares a driveway with another home;
• Since it's a house rental and not an apartment, will want to add exterior maintenance (i.e., mowing the lawn, snow removal) into the lease as the tenant's responsibility;
• Will advertise that acceptance will be contingent on satisfactory credit check.

Questions:

• Should I set up a post office box for rent checks so as to avoid giving the tenant my current address? Or is that personal preference?
• Do I need to apply for any special status (as a lessor) with the state? Do I need to change the description of my home with the township as not being "owner occupied"?
• Is it best practice to engage a real estate attorney to go over all this and more, including the lease?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

[sj08054]

Lookup the requirement for being a landlord in your town. Most town require some sort of registration and possible one time or annual fee to make it a rental. You want to change your home owner insurance to landlord policy. Some company gives you the option to let tenant buy renter insurance at discount. That is something you can provide to them as part of your lease. I would also include in the lease whether they have to get renter insurance.

Forget the P.O box. If your tenant wants to find you, it's not that hard.

Read up on PA rental laws.

BTW.. If you are in Philadelphia, you will definitely need to get a Businesses license and rental license. More tax forms to file each year.

[Rabrrita]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

[/list]Questions:

• Should I set up a post office box for rent checks so as to avoid giving the tenant my current address? Or is that personal preference?
• Do I need to apply for any special status (as a lessor) with the state? Do I need to change the description of my home with the township as not being "owner occupied"?
• Is it best practice to engage a real estate attorney to go over all this and more, including the lease?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

1. What does your state and/or local laws require as far as required disclosures and notices in a rental agreement? Some may require you provide your physical street address for the tenant to send legal notices or to be able to hand deliver rent when due. Additionally, you may be required by law to tell the tenant exactly where their security deposit has been deposited.

2. Those need to be check with your specific jurisdiction as each can establish their own regulations. Make sure you have notified your insurance carrier that its now a rental.

3. Many landlords will use the services of a qualified landlord legal service to ensure the lease and any other items has been prepared according to the landlord's wishes and state/local laws.

[nuts2uiam]

THE single most important thing for you to do is to seek a Real Estate attorney to draw up the contract. You can do a standardized form but IMO you are begging for trouble. Go for the pro.