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There are plenty of reasons why you might want to rent out the house you own. Maybe you have recently acquired 600 cats and your modest bungalow is no longer a suitable living space for your feline zoo. Perhaps your quaint home in your lovely neighborhood is suiting you just fine, but the allure of a new home is calling your name and you can’t ignore its siren song any longer. Or maybe you’re looking to get some extra income this year.

Whatever your reasons may be, read these six tips for how to rent your house before you take the leap and become a landlord.

How to Rent Your House

1. Clean it up!

Remember how pristine your house looked when you bought it? Chances are it doesn’t look like that anymore. Your first order of business should be to clean up your house. If you’ve been keeping up on a daily cleaning routine, this should be a piece of cake! If not, that’s ok – just clean your house as if you were listing it for sale. Add a coat of fresh paint, get the floors or carpet cleaned, perhaps even hire a professional cleaner to give your house a good once over before you list it for rent.

2. Fix it up!

Make sure that all aspects of your home are in functional, working order. Plumbing, wiring and appliances all should be up to par, and outdoor areas and stairways should be safe. Some people like to try their hand at DIY home repairs, but if you have serious concerns, you may want to hire a contractor or inspector to do a walk-thru and let you know exactly what needs to be addressed before a tenant can legally live in your home.

3. Make a managerial decision

When you are thinking about how to rent your house, one of your main decisions to make is how you are going to manage the property. You have two main choices: manage the property yourself or hire a management company.

This is probably one of the most serious aspects of being a landlord. How you treat and screen your potential tenants could have legal implications. This is one of the main reasons why some people choose to leave this to the pros and not deal with the hassle of reading up on local landlord-tenant or fair-housing laws and then worrying about if they are following every law like they should be.

If you choose to handle the leasing yourself, do your research and make sure you’re fully aware of what you’re getting into before you make any decisions. Some people decide to set up an LLC (limited liability company) and list the LLC as the landlord in order to protect their personal assets in the event of a legal dispute.

Bottom line: this aspect of renting your home is probably the trickiest and most important part of the entire ordeal. If you want ease and peace of mind, hire a management company. If you want to do it yourself, be sure to talk to your lawyers, accountants and anyone you know who is managing a property themselves. This decision is one you don’t want to make lightly.

4. Get your tool belt ready

All those unexpected things that went wrong when you were living in your house are still going to go wrong when your tenant is living in your house. And if you’re handling things yourself, you’re on the hook to fix them. Be prepared to handle any property maintenance that may come up (for a refresher about what may happen, check out this article about first-time homebuyer surprises to plan for). Establish relationships with plumbers, electricians and carpenters if you don’t have them already.

5. The price is right

Take the time to do research about what you should be charging for rent. Don’t assume that lower rent means you’ll get more agreeable tenants or that your monthly mortgage payment and insurance should be the only factor in how high you set your rent. No matter if you’re looking to make a profit on your rental home or just looking to break even, the rent you charge will ultimately be determined by how much someone is willing to pay you for an extended period of time. If you’re worried about losing money on rent, think about the improvements you could make to the house in order to justify raising the rent.

6. Be ready to be the bad guy

Even if you think you’ve found the ideal candidate, there is always the possibility that you are going to have to evict someone. This is another tricky area that is best left to the professionals. Familiarize yourself with landlord-tenant laws and at the very least, consult an attorney before you take any action. Laws vary by state, but a mistake could cost you a lot more than the rent you are owed.

We’d love to hear from you! Are you a current landlord? Do you have any recommendations on how to find the best property management company or how to research comparable rent in your area? Leave your tips on how to rent your house in the comments!

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