Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
If you rent out a house/townhouse...
We rented out our townhouse 3 years ago and our renters will be moving out at the end of the month. We got really lucky with them. I met them and we just clicked right away. I didn't do a background/credit check, verify income, or check any references (!!!) and things worked out GREAT. I'm really nervous about getting renters again and doing things right this time. So, if you rent out a place:
1. Do you do a background and/or credit check? What site do you use for this?
2. Did you verify their income?
3. If you don't mind sharing, what was your monthly rent, bed/bath and location? And how long did it take you to rent it out?
I used Craigslist to list it last time and will probably do that again. It's a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath townhouse in Woodbury. I rented it for $1250 three years ago and will probably try to get that much again. That seemed to be the going rate when I was on Craigslist doing research the other day.
Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated 
Re: If you rent out a house/townhouse...
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
If it isn't too much trouble that would be great! I hadn't really checked into that assuming that it would be too expensive, but maybe I should.
Here's the info my sister gave me:
Real-Time Leasing: http://www.realtimeleasing.com/
Charges:
? $99 per month for advertising the home for rent (this charge ends after they place the tenant, which they said typically takes two months, but actually only took one week for our townhouse)
? One month?s rent for placing the tenant (includes taking photos and video of the home to be posted online, offering suggestions on ways to make the home more desirable, scheduling showings, showing the home, handling the application process, and doing background and credit checks)
? 8% of monthly rent each month the tenant lives there (this is not charged while the home is vacant or if the tenant defaults on their rent; this fee covers the agency handling all issues at the home, like a broken washing machine or whatever, collecting rent, taking action if the tenant does not pay rent, )Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
1. Do you do a background and/or credit check? What site do you use for this? Yes, we use e-renter.com. We rent a condo, and our HOA requires a national criminal background check. The price is $29.99 for a credit & background check. We charge an "applcation fee" of $30 to cover this cost if the applicant decides not to rent from us or doesn't pass the background check. If they sign a lease with us, we apply the $30 toward their security deposit, so they don't end up losing anything if they choose to rent from us. Since there's the $30 fee, it also means that people don't submit an application unless they're really interested, and it saves you time & money by not processing an application on someone who isn't really sure he/she wants to live there.
If you're interested in just a Minnesota criminal background check, you can do that for free through the Minnesota BCA.
2. Did you verify their income? Sort of. We verified income from her job, but didn't verify her child support income. Knowing her main income source was enough to afford the rent, we didn't feel we needed to verify additional income sources.
3. If you don't mind sharing, what was your monthly rent, bed/bath and location? And how long did it take you to rent it out? We're renting a condo in Eagan, so our place isn't necessarily comparable to your place. I would look for other similar rentals in your area on craigslist and go with that.
It took us almost a month to find a tenant (previous tenant moved out the end of Feb., first advertised it March 5 and had a lease signed April 1, new tenant moved in April 15).
Mr. Sammy Dog
Funny! I'm currently renting out my 2 bed 1.5 bathroom TH in Woodbury as well! We started at $1300 and didn't get a call, then dropped it to $1200 a few days later, again, not a call. Then dropped it to $1100 and the phone has been ringing off the hook. We've had a ton of showings and a few applications.
I'm a realtor, so I had my in-house loan officer pull their credit to verify it. I've done background checks via e-renter as well, as well as ask my friend who is a Minneapolis Police Officer to run their name/driver's license numbers. This will be the third time in 4 years i've had to look for a renter and I've found them pretty quick. Good news is that vacancy rates are so low right now and rent is threw the roof, so you should have no problem finding a renter! Good luck!!!
Awesome--thanks for the feedback guys!
Jennyk--I will definitely check into that company if my CL posting doesn't get any bites.
sja&apa--thanks! e-renter pulled up as one of the many companies when I googled, so it's nice to get a personal reference on them. I had no idea where to start when so many companies pulled up.
strangisj--I kind of figured we might need to go a little lower this time. That's great news that you got lots of calls once you lowered the rent. For some reason I'm really worried about getting renters this time, so it's good to hear that you're getting lots of calls.