indigomama Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 My Dh has finally gotten a full time job and we are making a big move. Our house is underwater and we are not able to sell. Therefore, we are going to rent it out. I have spoken with two property management companies, but we are thinking of renting it out ourselves. We don't have the added funds to hire a company. So, my questions are to anyone who is rents our their own property. Where do I find rental applications and lease agreements? How do I run a credit check on a potential renter? Is there a way for them to pay rent electronically? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I did a quick search online for sample rental agreements and home inspection docs when we started. I made modifications that suited me, took the lease to my mom (an attorney) for review, and then advertised on craigslist for a renter. I found a company (also online) to run the credit checks for me. Reference checks I do myself. My renters can pay electronically through paypal or make a deposit to an account I keep only for their rent. There are several local branches they can choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 IF you are not going to be local, how will you manage the rental? I am not talking about rent. I am talking about any problems they have, checking whether the property is being maintained, that kind of thing. Make sure you read your state's tenant-landlord rules. You have to know the laws about how the security deposit must be handled, what you can charge for late payments, what are clauses that can be included or not, what are things you must provide, how quickly are you required to respond. Once you have checked the state laws, check if there are any additional local laws. Also, what is the plan if they don't pay rent? We rented a house but we had a property management company handling it. You can always have an agreement with them to handle the renting out part but only handle the day to day management. We had to do this because there was no way we were coming back on short notice since we had moved overseas. IF you are just moving an hour or two away, maybe you can get back enough to handle it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 I did a quick search online for sample rental agreements and home inspection docs when we started. I made modifications that suited me, took the lease to my mom (an attorney) for review, and then advertised on craigslist for a renter. I found a company (also online) to run the credit checks for me. Reference checks I do myself. My renters can pay electronically through paypal or make a deposit to an account I keep only for their rent. There are several local branches they can choose from. Thanks for the reply! Do you know the name of the company you used to run the credit checks? I don't know which sites are legit or not. Paypal sounds like a good idea. When you saw you set up an account for rent and there are several branches they can choose from, can you explain that? You opened a separate account at your personal bank? How can they pick which bank to go to and make a deposit? Sorry, if these are silly questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 IF you are not going to be local, how will you manage the rental? I am not talking about rent. I am talking about any problems they have, checking whether the property is being maintained, that kind of thing. Make sure you read your state's tenant-landlord rules. You have to know the laws about how the security deposit must be handled, what you can charge for late payments, what are clauses that can be included or not, what are things you must provide, how quickly are you required to respond. Once you have checked the state laws, check if there are any additional local laws. :iagree: Renting long distance without a management company is a pretty big risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Too bad you're not in Canada :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssavings Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 IF you are not going to be local, how will you manage the rental? I am not talking about rent. I am talking about any problems they have, checking whether the property is being maintained, that kind of thing. Make sure you read your state's tenant-landlord rules. You have to know the laws about how the security deposit must be handled, what you can charge for late payments, what are clauses that can be included or not, what are things you must provide, how quickly are you required to respond. Once you have checked the state laws, check if there are any additional local laws. Also, what is the plan if they don't pay rent? We rented a house but we had a property management company handling it. You can always have an agreement with them to handle the renting out part but only handle the day to day management. We had to do this because there was no way we were coming back on short notice since we had moved overseas. IF you are just moving an hour or two away, maybe you can get back enough to handle it yourself. :iagree: Just make sure you have this stuff covered. We're renting a house from a non-local landlord, and this stuff is a true nightmare. She has no money or way to get things fixed. Its horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 IF you are not going to be local, how will you manage the rental? I am not talking about rent. I am talking about any problems they have, checking whether the property is being maintained, that kind of thing. Make sure you read your state's tenant-landlord rules. You have to know the laws about how the security deposit must be handled, what you can charge for late payments, what are clauses that can be included or not, what are things you must provide, how quickly are you required to respond. Once you have checked the state laws, check if there are any additional local laws. Also, what is the plan if they don't pay rent? We rented a house but we had a property management company handling it. You can always have an agreement with them to handle the renting out part but only handle the day to day management. We had to do this because there was no way we were coming back on short notice since we had moved overseas. IF you are just moving an hour or two away, maybe you can get back enough to handle it yourself. We are moving several states away. Frankly, I am overwhelmed thinking about all of this. We were seriously underemployed for a long time and while we will be okay once DH starts working it's the start up and moving that is really hard. Our house is in great condition. I don't think there should be any problems, but we will have local friends available to help in an emergency. We have the name and number of a handyman familiar with our house to call. I will screen to the best of my ability, the people coming tonight sound great, but yes, I realize I never know. We're kind of in a tight spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathwonk Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 (edited) this depends on your business savvy and ability to manage a rental situation. I tried it and do not have that, and I myself would not do it again. the first family who rented it signed a 12 month please then left 3 months early, and I had great difficulty meeting the next three mortgage payments. Ultimately my mom baled me out or my mortgage lender might have gotten very unpleasant. The renter said his mother told him "people do it all the time". He even accused me of trying to take advantage of him, asserting that he had to leave and if he paid me what he owed, I would just re rent it and profit unfairly from him. I almost lost my house. He was a "good church going" man. On another occasion his wife told me the rent check was "in the mail", but when I dropped by to repair a jammed garbage disposal (she had put a fork down it), the check was lying on the table. The next guy gave me a months deposit but eventually he bought a new car and could not make both car and house payments so stopped paying me. He too left in arrears and my window air conditioner left with him. A powerful but less than careful man, he also managed somehow to pull down the garage door and I had to listen to his wife berate me for the "hazard" and also pay for a new door of course, this not being too far out of the ordinary except for her attitude. When I was a student, and then as a young married, I/we also sublet our apartments a few times, Every time I returned to find I had been robbed, and once a a student ALL my furniture had gone with the tenant. he claimed he thought I was not coming back in time to move out on schedule and moved it out for me. I never recovered any of it before leaving the state. As young marrieds we lost our silverware wedding present, and lived without any for the next 30-40 years. Now that we have some we use it every day for fun and to catch up. I myself would not take on the headache of managing my own home rental and indeed, except in case of absolute necessity, would never rent it at all. good luck, maybe you are or can learn to be a competent manager. I do not enjoy dealing with people who justify any wrong they do me by pretending that I am rich and they are poor and needy, nor having my property in their care. of course there are many fine people looking for a rental, but I did not notice them applying to me. Maybe an incompetent business person like me just attracts the awful tenants. so i guess my lesson is not that all renters are bad news but that you need a competent manger to weed them out for you and too handle them if they slip in. Edited September 25, 2012 by mathwonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 It doesn;t matter that the house is in good condition. So was ours. The person called on stupid things like stuck keys, leaking faucet, nothing serious at all. You have to make sure you have enough money to pay for repairs- what if the water heater goes or the furnace has a problem or the air conditioning. We just bought this house last year and it was excellently maintained. So far, the air conditioning that was only three years old had to be replaced (that was free due to warranty on it) and then we needed a plumber in the night because plant roots got into the pipes (probably because we had a very hot, dry summer). These aren't things you can predict or prepare for. The owners here bought a new air conditioner- how could they or we know it would fail so soon. The brand was reputable, this particular one was defective). That is why I am urging you to read the laws. Some states have very strong tenant rights. All states have some type of tenant rights like you have to provide heat and hot water and cooking facilities. THose standards mean something- like if the stove fails, how fast it must be repaired. Oh, and you still have to pay the mortgage on time regardless if your tenant pays or not. One of our tenants never paid on time. They supposedly had good credit. On the other hand, all of our landlords thought we were great tenants because we always paid on the first, and we never complained about minor issues. But all houses we have rented needed repairs that weren't minor little things as did all the houses we ever bought too. That includes brand new construction and well maintained older homes. You just have to expect repairs. Tenants don't have to make do with things as home owners might. So just because your stove doesn't have one burner working and you are okay with it, a tenant wouldn't be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathwonk Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 it gets worse. if your tenants move out and leave the house empty, squatters can move in, sometimes paying rent to a fictitious fake "owner". Amazingly you cannot then evict them because they are "paying rent"! this happened here at a magnificent home in our neighborhood which was apparently trashed by the squatters during the months they inhabited it. it was originally worth easily over a million dollars (or two) and recently sold for about $600,000. I did not see inside to assess the damage but it must have been significant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 My Dh has finally gotten a full time job and we are making a big move. Our house is underwater and we are not able to sell. Therefore, we are going to rent it out. I have spoken with two property management companies, but we are thinking of renting it out ourselves. We don't have the added funds to hire a company. So, my questions are to anyone who is rents our their own property. Where do I find rental applications and lease agreements? How do I run a credit check on a potential renter? Is there a way for them to pay rent electronically? Thanks! You need to know the laws of your jurisdiction. You should have a REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY draft a Landlord-protective document for you, not just use anything from the internet, that may not reflect your local laws. You must sign up with a service to run credit checks, and have a password-protected computer, a locking file cabinet, a shredder, and an onsite inspection. They are fairly inexpensive at the site that I frequent, and yes, there are ways to pay electronically. Will PM you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myeightkiddies Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 We had rental property for thirteen years. I could not imagine doing it long distance. There are so many things that usually do or may happen. Knowing the damage that has been done to our place, with us living local, I hate to think about how bad it could be if we lived away. There are some really great renters. However, we never had one. Many times we had to chase them down to collect rent. They refused to respond to mail, phone calls, emails, etc. Are you willing to drive several states away to collect from them? Are you willing to drive several states away to file with the court should they not pay/vacate? If so, you should be able to do it without a management company. If not, I would hire one. For us, we refused to use a company, but if we rented from a distance, I would only use a company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathwonk Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 in the interest of full disclosure, in my early days i myself requested to break a lease early. the IRS had levied an unexpected and large judgment against me taking all available cash and i could no longer afford the rent and needed to change apartments. the landlord was livid but i simply had no other choice so he let me move out. he did find another renter but may have lost some income. i still regret that after all these years, but have not contacted him to make any restitution. Indeed he is probably deceased. thus even with renters who mean well, but lack funds, you may take a loss of some kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 I am fully aware of potential problems. I have read my state laws. I am trying my best to make this work. I don't have a lot of options. Just trying to find help with some of the logistics, thank you for all those who have replied. I appreciate the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathwonk Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 you sound much better prepared than i was. surely it is not impossible to make this work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I'd get a manager if I were going to be out of state. They will take their fee out of the rent. If you're lucky, they'll be able to rent it quicker and for more than you could. However, if you do rent it yourself: https://www.padmapper.com/ This site doesn't get as many hits as craigslist, but they have the option of sending a rental application out to the potential tenant. It's all done online, you don't have to collect the fee, and you don't have to keep their SSN secure. You'll never see them. It's also cheaper than anyplace else we saw (25 vs 35-40). Even if you get a tenant through craigslist, you can still send them the rental application through padlister. Be aware that the going rents may not cover your mortgage payments, depending on the area. And there are a fair number of people who just won't rent from an individual, particularly if they know you won't be in town. Online forms: http://www.mmha.com/STORE/tabid/9115/Default.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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