Should You Rent Your Home?
Like many homeowners, the thought has probably crossed your mind: if you found the job of a lifetime in another state or your current company transferred you, should you sell or rent your home? Naturally there are many factors to weigh before making such an important decision.
First, you need to think about your reasons for keeping ownership of the home. Do you like the home so much that you want to hold on to it in case you ever move back? Are you looking for an extra tax break through property depreciation? Do you want to use the home as a basis for retirement investment?
These are all fine reasons for retaining ownership, but there are factors to consider that may outweigh the perceived benefits. For instance, are you prepared to be a long-distance landlord, hiring someone to maintain and manage the property for you? There are many other costs involved as well, such as advertising costs, turning costs (cleaning and painting between tenants), property taxes and insurance, utilities paid when your property is between tenants, and accounting costs. In order to assess these costs, you should research the numbers in your market. Expenses often run 30 to 40 percent of income before the monthly mortgage cost.
If you’ve decided to rent out your home, where do you start? First, get the house in shape in order to get the highest reasonable rent. This includes interior and exterior patching and painting, carpet cleaning or replacement, appliance tune-up and cleaning, adequate insulation to cut down on utility bills, and fixing whatever needs fixing.
Then, set the the proper rent. Location rules when setting prices. You can contact me to research prices in your area, If you set your price too high, it’s unlikely that you’ll find a tenant. If you ask for too low a rent, prospective tenants will wonder what’s wrong with the place.
Contact me to find out if your home is a good candidate for renting out. I will provide a FREE Market Analysis to get the Right Price. The Rental Market is HOT! I'm your Westchester County Real Estate Expert!