Renting My House Out Starting in April, mid March - Advice (Tampa: apartments, renters)

[FloridaKash]

I am hoping to have it rented by April 1st. The house is located in Northdale and is 2200SF 4BD, 4BA, 2CAR GARAGE, Fenced Yard, Enclosed Heated Pool and Spa, rec room with billiard table and wet bar. Walking distance to nearby grade A elementary school and close to shopping.

We're renting the house because we're going to be travelling for the next few years.

I am thinking around $1700 for rent.... seems to be about the market for similar homes with less features.

It appears at this rate that things like lawn and pool service are not included. Has anyone rented a home that has either of these services included? I almost want to have pool service added so I know the pool is properly maintained. I just had the pool resurfaced and would hate for it to be ruined due to pool maintenance. Only thing is, pool service is expensive and I think raising the rent to include it may blow off potential renters.

We'll also allow pets (breed restricted), mainly because all the floors are hard surfaced and the enclosed pool has pet screen on the bottom panels.

Does anybody know what the rental market is like in March? On a scale of 1 - 10 , 1 being terrible.

When do you think would be a good time to begin advertising the property? Ideally I would like to have the official move in day be April 1, but allow the tenant to start moving in after March 15.

Thanks

[Pragmaticus]

Your price point seems reasonable. In fact, it is on the cheap side compared to where I am at. I won't be able to find a house that size and amenities for that price if I look for one now around here--cheapest is 2200/month.

I don't know much about the market around Northdale but you are centrally located so I would think you could easily get that rent out.

"Traveling for the next few years" seems quite an adventure. Recently, a collegue resigned to go around the world--starting at mt. Kilimanjaro . I have big admire for people who plan and could do such thing for an extended period while not retiring

Best of luck to you!

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

I am hoping to have it rented by April 1st. The house is located in Northdale and is 2200SF 4BD, 4BA, 2CAR GARAGE, Fenced Yard, Enclosed Heated Pool and Spa, rec room with billiard table and wet bar. Walking distance to nearby grade A elementary school and close to shopping.

We're renting the house because we're going to be travelling for the next few years.

I am thinking around $1700 for rent.... seems to be about the market for similar homes with less features.

It appears at this rate that things like lawn and pool service are not included. Has anyone rented a home that has either of these services included? I almost want to have pool service added so I know the pool is properly maintained. I just had the pool resurfaced and would hate for it to be ruined due to pool maintenance. Only thing is, pool service is expensive and I think raising the rent to include it may blow off potential renters.

We'll also allow pets (breed restricted), mainly because all the floors are hard surfaced and the enclosed pool has pet screen on the bottom panels.

Does anybody know what the rental market is like in March? On a scale of 1 - 10 , 1 being terrible.

When do you think would be a good time to begin advertising the property? Ideally I would like to have the official move in day be April 1, but allow the tenant to start moving in after March 15.

Thanks

I think renting out your house if you are not going to be around will require a management company, things are going to break, lawn, pool I dont know if you are in a HOA community that you could get fined, you have to collect rent. My first house out of college was a 4 family house and I rented out all 4 apartments actually I lived in the finished basement, that was almost a full time job with one thing and another. A single family house is different but you should look into getting a company maybe for the first year and if you luck out and get a good tenant then you can drop them, you would at least get a good feel for the mechanics of being a landlord.

[PhotoProIP]

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

I am hoping to have it rented by April 1st. The house is located in Northdale and is 2200SF 4BD, 4BA, 2CAR GARAGE, Fenced Yard, Enclosed Heated Pool and Spa, rec room with billiard table and wet bar. Walking distance to nearby grade A elementary school and close to shopping.

We're renting the house because we're going to be travelling for the next few years.

I am thinking around $1700 for rent.... seems to be about the market for similar homes with less features.

It appears at this rate that things like lawn and pool service are not included. Has anyone rented a home that has either of these services included? I almost want to have pool service added so I know the pool is properly maintained. I just had the pool resurfaced and would hate for it to be ruined due to pool maintenance. Only thing is, pool service is expensive and I think raising the rent to include it may blow off potential renters.

We'll also allow pets (breed restricted), mainly because all the floors are hard surfaced and the enclosed pool has pet screen on the bottom panels.

Does anybody know what the rental market is like in March? On a scale of 1 - 10 , 1 being terrible.

When do you think would be a good time to begin advertising the property? Ideally I would like to have the official move in day be April 1, but allow the tenant to start moving in after March 15.

Thanks

We did; we had lawn & pest control included. I don't remember the company name that did it, but for your sake, I think it would be better to cover that yourself. We used to maintain the pool, but asked that homeowner to turn off the spa which was powered by gas as we didn't want a gas bill too, since we weren't going to use it anyway.

I would NOT allow pets under any circumstances.

The busiest rental time starts around when school is about to start...usually there is nothing available give or take a few homes in those spring months...

Also, I would use a management company just in case.

[TampaKaren]

Kash, I like your spirit in pursuing another life adventure. I would suggest you begin seeking a tenant about 60 days out. This will give you time to screen candidates and select the best one. Most moves here are done at the end of the year due to annual leases and again between tax season and the start of school. I would also suggest you pay someone to maintain the pool and lawn. Your expenses are tax deductible.

For rental prices, a quick MLS search for Northdale homes with 4 bedrooms and a pool over the past year resulted in rates from $1300 for 1800sf to $1950 for 2491sf. HUD also publishes an annual report for Fair Market Rents by Metropolitan Service Areas which are very broad and not neighborhood specific. Here's a link to that if it helps --> Fair Market Rents | HUD USER.

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by TampaKaren

Kash, I like your spirit in pursuing another life adventure. I would suggest you begin seeking a tenant about 60 days out. This will give you time to screen candidates and select the best one. Most moves here are done at the end of the year due to annual leases and again between tax season and the start of school. I would also suggest you pay someone to maintain the pool and lawn. Your expenses are tax deductible.

For rental prices, a quick MLS search for Northdale homes with 4 bedrooms and a pool over the past year resulted in rates from $1300 for 1800sf to $1950 for 2491sf. HUD also publishes an annual report for Fair Market Rents by Metropolitan Service Areas which are very broad and not neighborhood specific. Here's a link to that if it helps --> Fair Market Rents | HUD USER.

Thanks Karen! Helpful as always.

I would be willing to rent it out furnished, but I have a feeling most renters prefer to have an empty place. Heck, especially if I could get some additional monies out of it.

Yes, I am aware things will break. I live in this house so I have a pretty good idea what is in what shape. I need to have someone come take a look at my fridge... I think I am due for a new one. So they'll have a new one of those. I also need to replace the AC unit outside. Everything else should be in good shape.

Does anyone know of a lawn, pool, pest service? A one stop shop would be nice and I would think provide savings.

[ilikepizza]

You NEED a property manager. A good one will have all the contractors you need and you will pay less for these services since the property manager uses these contractors often. Include pool maintenance and charge a little more if necessary to make up for it. I would leave it the tenants responsibility to take care of lawn. Take photos of everything before anybody moves in. I can PM you the property manager I used for a few years. I went both routes of renting my house out myself and using a property manager. Wish I would've just used the manager to begin with.

[HWTechGuy]

All I can add is that any warranty you may have on your fresh new pool surface is most likely dependent on proper (documented) maintenance. I know that is the case for me.

I get the water tested monthly and have the results in a binder along with other related things (receipts for chemicals/supplies) so that there can be no question in regards to the maintenance of my pool.

[housingcrashsurvivor]

If maintaining homestead is a concern, then you can rent for a year but not, legitimately, two years consecutively, and check but I think that year starts January 1.

Any neighbor or disgruntled tenant could easily and anonymously turn you in should you risk it. Money-wise it doesn't make as big a difference as it once did, since investor homes now go up only 5% max as compared to a homestead's 3% max but there might be other benefits to you as well.

I'm not sure if the county could declare partial homestead instead of full homestead if you are collecting rents. They actively seek that out if a property has an accessory dwelling unit but probably not for a roommate situation. Though, again, someone could turn you in to both them or the IRS if you did not report that income properly.

A way around the homestead issue would be to maintain at least a bedroom for yourself, which you could use for locked storage, and then rent the rest of the house out as an absentee housemate. I believe that as long as you've unfettered access to your own living space within the house, that legitimately maintains your homestead (though, of course, lowers slightly your collectable rents).

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by housingcrashsurvivor

If maintaining homestead is a concern, then you can rent for a year but not, legitimately, two years consecutively, and check but I think that year starts January 1.

Any neighbor or disgruntled tenant could easily and anonymously turn you in should you risk it. Money-wise it doesn't make as big a difference as it once did, since investor homes now go up only 5% max as compared to a homestead's 3% max but there might be other benefits to you as well.

I'm not sure if the county could declare partial homestead instead of full homestead if you are collecting rents. They actively seek that out if a property has an accessory dwelling unit but probably not for a roommate situation. Though, again, someone could turn you in to both them or the IRS if you did not report that income properly.

A way around the homestead issue would be to maintain at least a bedroom for yourself, which you could use for locked storage, and then rent the rest of the house out as an absentee housemate. I believe that as long as you've unfettered access to your own living space within the house, that legitimately maintains your homestead (though, of course, lowers slightly your collectable rents).

Thanks HCS.... this is not something I thought about. I think it would be a bit strange to have a room locked that the tenant cannot access though.

Thanks againf or this info.