There are a number of reasons that you may want to rent your house out in the current economic climate. Perhaps you actually want to sell your home but you are not able to, perhaps you need to downsize and the way to do it is to put up your house for rent and rent a smaller house or an apartment until things pick up. Or maybe you just need to rent your house out and go and live with relatives or friends until you get a new job.
Whatever the reason, increasing numbers of people are putting up their house to rent by themselves. If they need the maximum return from their rental property then it seems necessary to cut out the middle man and save on some extra fees.
Sometimes doing this can indeed save you some money but you need to think it through, do your homework and not cut any corners. If you are going to cut out the management company then you need to make sure you do the following:
- know the correct rental value of your house
- make sure your house is in a good condition to get the best rental price
- know the best place to advertise for tenants
- make sure that you have a proper and legal lease agreement
- ensure your home is fully insured for renting
- do background checks on potential renters
- make sure that the rent you will get will cover your costs
