Tips on renting our home in Maryland (Rockville: real estate, rental)

[esciar1]

My husband and I are relocating for a job but do not want to sell our house in Maryland (germantown). I was wondering what our best option is for a reliable and least hassle way to rent. We are not looking to make money, we just want our mortgage/repair expenses covered. We will be living in another state so coming to the house for maintenance will be difficult.

Are there companies that will rent the house and deal with the tenants for us (deal with all legal issues and house maintenance)?

If we rent it ourselves should we use a realtor to find the tenants or should we just do it ourselves by advertising? If we do rent it ourselves, are there companies that we can hire to take care of all of the maintenance of the house?

Are there any laws that we need to know about? Can we just make our own lease or are their guidelines we must follow?

Any advice will be helpful. Thanks

[Marilyn Emery]

There are county rental laws and if there is an HOA there may be additional restrictions. If you are renting yourself you can use your own lease but you still have to be sure you are not in violation of fair housing laws when choosing tenants. If you rent on your own and choose a property management company be careful not to choose one that will be in competition with you. If they have rental properties and they have vacancies they may fill theirs before filling yours.

Many of the larger Real Estate companies have property management departments that handle maintainance, tenant non-payment etc. They also have the ability to run credit checks, check references and the other aspects of choosing good tenants to start with. They also are very aware of fair housing regulations.

[lenora]

Go to "peoples-law.org" The site is sponsored, in part, by the Maryland judiciary and has a wealth of information addressing landlord-tenant laws in Maryland.

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by esciar1

My husband and I are relocating for a job but do not want to sell our house in Maryland (germantown). I was wondering what our best option is for a reliable and least hassle way to rent. We are not looking to make money, we just want our mortgage/repair expenses covered. We will be living in another state so coming to the house for maintenance will be difficult.

Are there companies that will rent the house and deal with the tenants for us (deal with all legal issues and house maintenance)?

If we rent it ourselves should we use a realtor to find the tenants or should we just do it ourselves by advertising? If we do rent it ourselves, are there companies that we can hire to take care of all of the maintenance of the house?

Are there any laws that we need to know about? Can we just make our own lease or are their guidelines we must follow?

Any advice will be helpful. Thanks

From renting out one my homes in 2000:

I rented my other home myself and screened all tenants. I found a lease online and I tailored it to suit. Make sure and pull credit on ALL your applicants. When my tenants move out in 2005 I sold, as all the applicants either had credit problems or some kind of drama to deal with.

I've a friend who lives in SFL and has been renting home in Rockville for over 10 years. He has been very fortunate with present set of tenants. The previous ones (2006) he had to evict for non payment of rent.

There are real estate agency's that you can hire to manage the property.

[esciar1]

Thanks. Does anyone know of the names of companies that will manage the property?

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by esciar1

Thanks. Does anyone know of the names of companies that will manage the property?

Good guy! Give him a call, he'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Llewellyn Realtors—Local Residential Real Estate Specialists for Buying or Selling a Home in Maryland and Washington DC (http://www.llehomes.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Agents.Detail&agent_id=60 - broken link)

[AlicynD]

Esciar, I'll PM you about rental listing.

Also, remember that credit checks are NOT enough. I have seen some people with excellent credit really trash a place and those with poor credit make the place look better than when they moved in. The best way to find out is to hire a company who does thorough checks and reports on the applicants or if you are doing it on your own make sure you have references from past Landlords.

[jelenap]

My 0.02$ from the tennant's standpoint - make sure not to scare good tennants (i.e. people who have a job ) by asking to pay too many "extras", such as HOA fees or to do maintenance, such as mowing or gutter cleaning. All fees should be included in the rent and maintenance should be done by some company. I've seen many homeowners willing to rent, but asking to pay all their mortgage and expenses and, on top of that, maintain their lawn and equipment. If I wanted all this, I would've bought a house myself.

Checking references with the previous landlords might be more useful than a credit check.