Things to Consider Before Renting Out Your Home

If you’re a homeowner who’s moving from the area either temporarily or indefinitely, you have a decision to make regarding your home: Do you sell it and find a new place when or if you move back, or do you hang onto it so that you know you’ll have somewhere to live upon returning?

Maybe the biggest part of that decision is whether it’s affordable to keep more than one residence, and one way to make it more affordable is to rent out your home while you’re not living in. If you have a house payment, the rent received could cover it. You can set the length of a lease so that you know when you could move back in.

It’s not an easy decision, but if you’re relocating and likely to return, it’s one you’ll have to make. If you live in Santa Clara Valley a local Santa Clara County property management company can provide you a free management quote and an estimate on the rental income you could expect from your home. Along with these details here are the main things to consider before renting out your home.

Rental demand

You can live in a great home in a great neighborhood and still not be able to rent your home profitably. Attracting and qualifying tenants can be time consuming even if the rental market demand in your area is strong. You’ll have to do some research.

One of the simple ways to determine demand is to see what rental rates are for your area. You can check some rental listings online, by looking some of big real estate listing sites. If going rates for places similar to yours seems high compared to nearby areas, it’s a decent indicator that rental demand is high. It’s important to have a firm grasp on local market demand and rental rates in order to determine whether you can afford to keep two homes at the same time.

Price appreciation

For most people, a home is the biggest asset they own. If you live in an area with strong price appreciation, you might not want to sell something that’s could be worth a lot more money in a few years.

If you own a new homes in Billings MT valued at $1,000,000 and the annual rate of appreciation in your area is 8-10 percent or better, selling now could mean losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few years. If you think the market is going to remain that strong while you’re out of town, it could certainly be worth it to maintain your ownership of the property.

Peace of mind

Renting your primary residence out can be a little nerve-wracking. You’re basically entrusting strangers with taking care of your most valuable possession. And you will be out of town, so you can’t just pop in or even drive by to check on it from time to time.

On top of worrying about strangers maintaining your home, you might also worry about what happens when an unexpected repair comes up, as they inevitably do. It’s one thing to rely on your tenants to cut the grass and keep the place clean. It’s another thing entirely to count on them when a hot water tank stops working or the roof springs a leak.

One way to avoid some of the worries is to hire a company to manage the property for you. Not only will the management company handle any necessary repairs, but they can also help by screening tenants, collecting rent, and handling communications. Santa Clara County property management costs for a single family home is 8 percent of the gross monthly rent, but the service will give you peace of mind while you’re miles away.

Valley Management Group is a San Jose property management company that serves the needs of many rental owners throughout Santa Clara County who have relocated and are renting out their homes. They provide trustworthy and affordable property management services and have earned many high ratings from both owners and tenants.

Reviewed and Approved by Lloyd Kipp
Property Manager and Owner of Valley Management Group