Renting out our old house :( nbr

Poppy523 · November 2014

So our house down in Nashville has been on the market since we moved, back in August and we haven't even had an offer. We have switched realtors and even dropped the price below what we paid less than a year ago even though we put a lot of work into the house while we lived there. The answer from Everyone seems to be he same, that the market down there is high on inventory in our price range and low on buyers right now. We didn't even have many showings, but there are 12 other houses for sale in our neighborhood, which isn't very big to begin with. We bought a house up in CT because it was the same cost as renting and at least we are building up some equity, but now going into the holiday season, it is unlikely our TN house will sell until next spring. The rental market there is very hot right now and we decided to try switching over. I'm super stressed about it, but I guess it is better than carrying two mortgages into the spring. We hired a management company to list it and care for it and they sound great, but the whole process makes me uneasy. Has anyone ever been a landlord? Any advice?

kleigh926 · November 2014

I'm sorry you're dealing with this

The housing market where we are sucks too and I'm very worried that when we decide to list (probably within the next year or two) it won't sell and we'll have to rent it out. We definitely can't afford 2 mortgages either. I don't have any advice but wanted to offer encouragement and support.

SummerLove21 · November 2014

We rented out our first condo when we first moved to the Bay Area. I think hiring a property management company is really smart; I wish we would have done it. We rented to a young family once (friends of ours) and to this guy and his girlfriend after that (guy was a young co-worker of DH's before we moved). Both trashed our house, though in different ways, and we rented to them cheap because we knew them and expected them to be more respectful of our house because they knew us. No such luck.

Based on that, I would not rent to anyone you know - keep it business and not personal. Get a credit report and verify employment. Make sure they fill out a tenant application and check their references. If it is legal where you live, get a photocopy of the driver's license. Get the security deposit, and don't let a penny of it go if it's not deserved. That's the motivating factor in getting them to clean up when they move (and it always was for us when we rented)! Be a good landlord if you want a good tenant - if there is a problem, property management should take care of it, but if it gets to you, address it promptly. Make sure you know who is living there (the family we rented to let the husband's little sister move in without telling us - turns out she was living in the loft above the kitchen, which is illegal and incredibly dangerous).

This is a good article too: https://www.thelpa.com/lpa/what/10stupid_things.html

Good luck!

Poppy523 · November 2014

Thanks ladies! It's really a crumby situation. Damage to the property is my biggest concern going forward with this, the house is only 5 years old and we cleaned all the carpets and painted the walls before we left to make it attractive to buyers so it's in really nice condition right now. If someone trashes it we won't even be local.

kalyth76 · November 2014

Hi there --

It has its good and bad points. We are landlords right now and have been having the toughest time over the past few months. Our tenants went from wonderful to nightmarish in a matter of a month. So, we just went through the eviction process as a result. Biggest lesson learned, have the rental company only place vetted tenants that are sure to pay on time.

We've done that this time around and have been having better luck. The other thing, make sure that the rental company will handle all communication with the tenant. I'm not too happy with our property manager at this point and will probably be switching over to a new company once our contract with them is up.

The good thing is that when things are going well, its pretty trouble free.

Kate

wineandcake · November 2014

We're landlords and I hate it. Our tenants always pay, but it's throughout the month. We looked into eviction, but figure we are getting the money so we'll let it go until spring and then consider selling since the market is great right now and we could make a very nice sized profit on it. We make about 500$ profit on our rental property every month. That money is put aside for upgrades and repairs on both houses, we were fortunate to move to a low cost area so we are able to keep that money aside and not need it to cover anything here.

marshmallows · November 2014

I think you're doing the right thing and you can be selective with tenants. Just no pets! My parents had to do this for awhile in Nashville and we were landlords before we redid our house. It's short term. What part of Nashville?

Poppy523 · November 2014

@marshmallows the house is in a subdivision in Hendersonville. It's in an HOA and the management company rents two other houses there. That helps a little because the renters sign the HOA agreement which is very strict. It is also a fairly big house, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms so we will likely get a family, especially given the amenities in the community. We luckily have several pictures thanks to it being listed for so long by so many people, it's also considered a high income rental property so we are going to run the credit check, a criminal background check and our management company will call all past landlords before we agree to the tenants. They collect rent and check on the property regularly as well. Your advice has been super helpful, ladies, thanks!!

marshmallows · November 2014

Poppy523 said:

@marshmallows the house is in a subdivision in Hendersonville. It's in an HOA and the management company rents two other houses there. That helps a little because the renters sign the HOA agreement which is very strict. It is also a fairly big house, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms so we will likely get a family, especially given the amenities in the community. We luckily have several pictures thanks to it being listed for so long by so many people, it's also considered a high income rental property so we are going to run the credit check, a criminal background check and our management company will call all past landlords before we agree to the tenants. They collect rent and check on the property regularly as well. Your advice has been super helpful, ladies, thanks!!

And really, the city is still growing so much. Sit tight and I bet you'll see a good return down the road. There aren't many cities with this type of growth.

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Renting out our old house :( nbr

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