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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.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Property management company recs? Have you rented your home?
We're looking at moving within the next year because we have no.more.space. I was looking at comp houses in my neighborhood and we are just going to eek out what we owe on our house if we sell it....and I'm wondering if we could rent it for a few years until we could sell it and maybe make some money.
Wondering if anyone on here has used a property management company to rent their house and what their experiences were? Did you have any maintenance issues? Payment issues? I'd love a recommendation!
Of course I realize I may be paying two mortgages for a while if it doesn't rent. That's the scary part...we could only carry that so long.
DX PCOS, Endometriosis 2009
Eliot. Born 6/18/10
Missed m/c discovered 1/6/12 at 8-9 weeks
D&C 1/10/12
My Blog
Eliot. Born 6/18/10
Missed m/c discovered 1/6/12 at 8-9 weeks
D&C 1/10/12
My Blog
Re: Property management company recs? Have you rented your home?
There were a few suggestions in this post from a couple of weeks ago.
Other than property management ... there are lots of other things to consider. Starting with financing on your new house. Not always, but in many cases, you will have to qualify to carry both mortgages (on the old & new houses) without rental income unless you have a history of rental income. Is your income high enough that you'd qualify for a new mortgage while holding on to your current mortgage?
Also, have you researched the tax implications? Search for "residential rental property" on the IRS website for more info.
Have you researched how much similar rental homes are renting for in your area? Can you legitimately cover your expenses with rent? I know several people who are renting homes (me included) and none of us are making money on it, we're all losing a little each month. We're just losing less by renting than we would if we sold right now.
If you're worried about paying 2 mortgages for very long, I'm not sure I'd go the rental route. You have no guarantee of being able to have your place occupied with a tenant consistently. We rent our former home, but we know that even if the place sits vacant with no rental income indefinitely, we can afford to pay both mortgages.
Mr. Sammy Dog
Thanks. I hate that the search function doesn't work on here - I figured it had been asked before!
I have not looked into tax implications, but I'd eventually get there if we decided to go this route. We have looked into what other houses like ours are renting for in our neighborhood. We would either be even or losing a little bit each month. I know we won't make money, and I'm not really trying to do that.
We could probably cover two mortgages for around 6 months - 1 year, but no, you're right, not indefinitely. I wanted to talk to the property management company about rental trends in our area though. I know our house would be set up well for roommates and it's close to a lot of amenities...but I have no idea how the rental market is going there or if we even want to chance blowing our savings on 2 mortgages.
Right now it's just an option we're looking into. Thanks for your great response!
Eliot. Born 6/18/10
Missed m/c discovered 1/6/12 at 8-9 weeks
D&C 1/10/12
My Blog
The other thing to consider is that property management companies are in the business of making money...either from you or from the renter, and look at whether the rent they'll charge the renter (to make money) is even something you can get in that neighborhood.
You'll also have to consider if you rent it yourselves that you'll have costs incurred with background and credit checks of potential renters (not much but it still costs), any sort of repairs (renters don't pay for repairs to broken furnace's, washer/dryer's, etc).
Those are all things to consider as well, just to let you know.
Glad you're doing the research. It's not as easy as some people think it is, so you're doing the right thing by checking things out.
In general, many property management companies (at leas the ones we looked into) charge one month's rent as a fee to find/place a tenant, and then you can contract with them to handle management responsibilities (collect rent, handle maintenance calls, etc.), which is usually about 10% of the rent each month.
We decided it wasn't worth it to us to hire a management company. Sure, finding a tenant is a bit of a pain, but it's mostly a drain on your time, not a huge expense. Advertising on craigslist is very effective and free. You can run a credit & background check on e-renter.com for $29.99.
As for monthly management responsibilities, we have it pretty easy since we rent a condo with a lot of common systems (central heat, water heater, and so on) so if those things break, it's the HOA's responsibility to deal with it, not ours. They also handle lawn care, show removal, etc. There would be a lot more responsibility with a single family home.
We had our last tenant pay rent through paypal, it was nice and easy (no "the check is lost in the mail" stuff to deal with). We've had no issues, but I guess we've been lucky so far.
Mr. Sammy Dog
Both of you make good points. I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this but we have seriously replaced everything in the house that could possibly break, so we don't think that anything big should be breaking soon. And now I'm sure my roof will cave in. But we've put a lot of money into the house...and to just come out even....it hurts. I should be glad we're not upside down.
I think if we went this route we would use a property management company. Looks like a couple of the big ones charge around 8% or a flat $120/ month fee (plus one months rent). We really don't want to be the ones running to respond to maintenance issues, and I think that would be our biggest reason for using them.
Lots to think about, thanks again all.
Eliot. Born 6/18/10
Missed m/c discovered 1/6/12 at 8-9 weeks
D&C 1/10/12
My Blog
There are a lot of routes to go. Usually the ones that charge a monthly fee end up being more expensive - especially if you have a long-term renter. Maintaining the home yourself is really not too hard or expensive. Home Service Plus will cover all the major appliances for under $40.
One thing to examine is whether the Home Rental Company lists properties on the MLS and, if they do, ask them how much they offer other agents. The few that do offer little if any money to motivate the 10,000+ metro area Realtors to mine their vast networks to find you the best renters the fastest. The reason for this is that the owner and Broker of the company, who are not directly involved, get the lion's share of the commission. The rest is split between the referring agent and the rental listing agent who ends up having to work too many accounts.
I was with the oldest and largest Home Rental Company in the Twin Cities and I left to form my own company so all my clients work directly with me the owner, me the Broker, and me the agent. Cutting out the middlemen allows me to offer a handsome reward that thousands of agents will vie for. It allows me to afford to provide good customer service.
Now that is not the only way I find renters. I also list homes in all the places that renters look for homes but there is no denying the power of the MLS. I also screen renters thoroughly and create contracts to protect your home. You can read all about it on www.distinctiverentalhomes.com.
Call me if you are interested at (612) 360-3349. Bill