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How to Prepare for Turning a Home into a Rental
How to Prepare for Turning a Home into a Rental
If you have made the decision to rent out the home you are living in rather than living in it yourself, you have some prep work to do. Not only do you have to get the home itself physically ready to rent, you also need to prepare yourself mentally. Understand that they are going to treat your home differently than they will and make yourself come to terms with that fact. Use some of the tips below to make the whole process much easier and safer for you and your future tenant.
Decide How Involved You Want to Be
You don’t have to deal with tenants at all if you don’t want to. Instead, you can turn your home over to a rental agency or real estate agent who will collect the rent and make timely visits to ensure that the property is being taken care of. This helps avoid any issues with getting personally involved with the tenant or letting your feelings about the house get in the way of how you manage your business.
Safety First
You may want to check with a local lawyer or building inspector to learn exactly what the rental codes are and what your responsibilities are toward the tenant. Some states require that you furnish appliances while others don’t. The same is true of things like smoke detectors.
You most likely have the best interests of everyone in mind, so it won’t hurt to take a few extra steps. Make sure that the smoke detectors are adequate and in working order. Check the stability of any and all handrails. Install GFI sockets near the sink, tub, and washer.
Get Neutral
Neutral tones are fairly common in rentals because they work with just about any kind of décor. Brown carpet is the most common because it hides traffic paths and minor stains better than most other colors do. When it comes to the walls, stay with one neutral color. This will prevent you from having to match paints every time a new tenant moves in.
You may not be trying to offer a palace, but you expect your tenant to be timely with the rent, so give them something worth renting. Make sure everything is in working order and create a schedule for doing things like changing furnace filters. The more you invest in maintaining the home as a reliable landlord, the more likely you are to have tenants who will stay for long periods of time and pay their rent in a timely manner.
What to Look for When Choosing a New Neighborhood
What to Look for When Choosing a New Neighborhood
When searching for a new home, a lot of people get caught up in the price and the features they want to see in the house themselves. Then they move into a neighborhood and realize they aren’t near anything useful, hate the school system, and have questionable neighbors. When preparing to move, it’s helpful to do some research on the neighborhoods you’re considering before narrowing down your home choices.
Safety Comes First
Always, always check the safety statistics for a new area. While there is no sure-fire way to guarantee you’ll never be the victim of a crime, you can decrease your odds but choosing a neighborhood that doesn’t have high crime rates. If your potential neighborhood is in the news every day, you may want to consider looking elsewhere. You should also check the national directories for registered sex offenders; especially if you have children.
Proximity to Important Destinations
Where do you go on a regular basis? Work? School? A long-term care facility where a loved family member lives? To visit family and close friends? How far away from these things will your new neighborhood put you? Would you mind being further away from work if you could be closer to family?
Other important destinations to consider include shopping malls, grocery stores, banks, gyms, and any other entertainment or shopping venue you consider important. It’s one thing to buy a quiet home in the suburbs and quite another to realize you have to make a full day-trip to do any sort of affordable shopping.
What is the Cost of Living?
This is especially important to consider if you are moving a distance. You are going to find that the cost of living can be different in varying areas of the same state. There are quite a few cost-of-living calculators online. Use them to calculate the cost of moving to several different localities.
Do You Use Public Transportation?
Is public transportation important to you, or necessary? If so, make sure the area you are considering has a reliable system. Do you prefer taking the bus or train to work? Maybe you want to move to a neighborhood that is considered bicycle-friendly. Check out schedules, paths, and anything else important to your day-to-day routine.
Make a list of priorities before you start house hunting. Determine which things you’d like to see in a neighborhood are absolute must-have items and which are simply desires. Make sure you share this list with your real estate agent as well. Try to find an area that is affordable and meets as many of your needs as possible. You may have to compromise a bit, but the time spent will make you much happier in the end.
