For all of you guys who are landlords and/or have rental properties

[12]

I didn't want to clog the other thread...

We bought our house in December of 2012 but it looks like we'll be on the move again in the next year or two. Long story short (and there's a thread about it), we're going to most likely move to my wife's hometown and live in her grandma's house, scott free.

I'd take an enormous hit with closing costs/realtor fees if I try to sell it this quick, so I am going to rent it out. My mortgage is only $1,100 and the going rate for rent on houses like ours in the area is anywhere from $1,400 to $1,700. We'd probably be on the higher end of that just because of how nice our place is and the yard is good size and nice.

Any pointers? I'm leaning heavily toward hiring a property management company to handle our property. They take 10 percent but I hear they take the headaches of being a landlord away, too.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[gopher_guy]

Re: For all of you guys who are landlords and/or have rental properties

From somebody who knows nothing about bring a landlord or anything like that: 10% for them to handle all the annoying "help, my sink is broken" landlord crap seems like a good deal.

[12]

Re: For all of you guys who are landlords and/or have rental properties

From somebody who knows nothing about bring a landlord or anything like that: 10% for them to handle all the annoying "help, my sink is broken" landlord crap seems like a good deal.

I think so too.

I just couldn't do it. A co-worker of mine recently had a couple move into his house and they didn't even pay the first month's rent. He had to evict them immediately.

He does it all on his own and it's a huge stress in his life.

10 percent is nothing. I just need to find the right company, because some of them can be nightmares.

[gopher_guy]

Re: For all of you guys who are landlords and/or have rental properties

Yeah when I was really young my dad owned two houses in a town about 40 minutes away from where we lived. He'd get a call randomly from one of them that something was broken. Come home from a long day of work and have to drive 40 minutes there and back, plus the time it took to fix whatever it was.

And one of the houses was rented out to a bunch of college kids who decided to stop paying rent, and then trashed the place and ditched when my dad had the audacity to ask for money. Needless to say he didn't own those houses for long after that, haha.

[st67]

Re: For all of you guys who are landlords and/or have rental properties

Yeah - make sure your tenant isn't a stupid ****ing bitch who is going to pay late almost every single month, have her dog pee on the carpet and then literally use a box cutter to cut it out and replace it with different carpet, have her dog pee all over the downstairs carpet, bail out on the last rent AND expect her security deposit back - etc, etc.

[PadresFan]

We rent out 2 properties and have only had minor problems with our tenants. We don't have a property management company because we are local and can handle issues. Our real estate agent is a close family friend so she does the screening, initial application, credit check and secures the deposit for free. Everything else, I take care of.

However, if you aren't close to your rental then the property management company is the way to go. I have a co-worker who uses one in Phoenix and it has really reduced headaches.

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[Redacted01]

Re: For all of you guys who are landlords and/or have rental properties

I think so too.

I just couldn't do it. A co-worker of mine recently had a couple move into his house and they didn't even pay the first month's rent. He had to evict them immediately.

He does it all on his own and it's a huge stress in his life.

10 percent is nothing. I just need to find the right company, because some of them can be nightmares.

What the hell was he thinking? Any place I've rented, you had to pay security deposit and 1st month's rent before they ever handed you the keys. You can't move in without those.

[dickey1331]

If there is a military base near you put it up on AHRN. Military renters seem to be better.

[ScoobySnax]

Re: For all of you guys who are landlords and/or have rental properties

Yeah - make sure your tenant isn't a stupid ****ing bitch who is going to pay late almost every single month, have her dog pee on the carpet and then literally use a box cutter to cut it out and replace it with different carpet, have her dog pee all over the downstairs carpet, bail out on the last rent AND expect her security deposit back - etc, etc.

Sounds like you're speaking from experience.