If you own your home but are thinking of moving across the country, you may be considering renting out your place rather than selling it. This can work well for many homeowners since you can avoid the selling process and keep building equity in the home. However, renting out a home when you live several states away has its intricacies. Here are a few factors to consider before you jump into this approach.
You'll need to find a renter before you leave
Finding the perfect tenant can be more time-consuming than you expect. This is something you definitely need to do before you go, since vetting a potential tenant from across the country is difficult. You'll have a harder time knowing if someone is reliable and responsible if you don't meet them in person.
So, if you're just weeks from moving, you may need to hire a realtor to find a renter for you in your absence. If you are a few months away from moving, start searching for tenants now. You may have trouble finding someone who wants to move in three or four months in advance, so consider finding a renter now and staying with a friend for the last month or two before your cross-country move.
Someone will need to be on-call to take care of repairs and other issues
You can't fix a broken toilet from across the country. You can't even stop in to verify the issue before calling a plumber. To simplify matters, you'll want to have a responsible party who can stop in to check on repairs and other issues at the home. If your family or good friends live near the home you'll be renting out, you may be able to pay one of them a small sum to handle this for you.
Your other option is to hire an apartment management company who can oversee repairs for you. Services are generally affordable, but they will eat into your profit margin, so keep this in mind when deciding what to charge for rent.
If you decide to sell the home, doing it remotely may be challenging
If you are on the fence about selling the home and figure you'll just rent it out while you decide whether or not to sell, you may want to re-think this approach. Selling a home that's being rented by tenants is harder than selling a vacant home. You'll have to negotiate lease terms and stay in touch with the tenants, in addition to your realtor, bank, lawyer, and other parties, throughout the sale process. If you're leaning towards selling anytime soon, you're probably better off selling now rather than renting temporarily.
For more information on the laws and benefits surrounding rentals, contact a service such as Rosenblum Realty, Inc .
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