A Few Tips To Rent Out Your Home

Renting a home is a good decision for those who are looking to have some extra income. As this way, you not only give a shelter to someone who can't afford to buy a house but also an extra monthly earning for yourself.

As you are not planning to rent a property specifically designed for renting but a home instead, it is obvious that you would like to be more careful with the terms you set in the lease.

1. First and foremost, consider hiring an agent to rent out your property - A rental agent will take down all the information important for your house. He would advertise the listing and review any potential tenants that submit an application and present them to you. But an agent will charge a fee, ranging from a half-month to a full-month fee for his services. A half-month fee of a client represents one-half of one month's rent, while his full fee equals one month's rent. If your agent is able to secure a suitable tenant, this amount will be deducted from the amount you receive from the tenant at the signing of the lease. Real estate agencies usually choose one of these three options: first of all charging only the landlord a full-month fee, then charging only the tenant a full-month fee, or splitting the fee between the two (two half-month fees). Also, make sure you are clear on the fee structure of the agent before you sign any contracts or make any agreements with him / her.

2. Agent will work for you - If you hire an agent to rent out your home, he / she will perform a credit check, call past references and verify employment and wages. After the review gets completed, he / she will present results to you and, based on the information provided by him / her, you can choose to accept or deny the applicants. The final call is yours - if you do not have an agent, you can follow these steps yourself, but you will need an agency to perform the credit check for you. Also, pay thorough attention to the applicant's credit and employment history. If the person interested in buying your property has poor credit or is not making enough to afford rent comfortably, you should immediately consider finding a different tenant. Besides that, take a feedback from the applicant's past landlord, if he gives a poor recommendation, think twice.
3. Duration of lease - After deciding your tenant, it is important to decide the duration of the lease. But remember that after signing the lease, it is difficult to terminate the contract.

4. Do want to rent a Furnished or un-furnished hours - It is important to decide whether you want to let the tenant use your furniture or if the apartment will be delivered vacant to him / her.

5. Do inform your neighbors - If you have plans to rent out a home that has been your long-term residence, make sure that you inform your neighbors. Regardless of the duration of the lease, your neighbors might just get confused when they will see strangers using your garage, so send a letter or make a house call to prevent any problems.

Keep certain things in your mind always while you are planning to rent out your home:

• Do review mortgage documents for restrictions about renting out your home while the mortgage is in effect

• Try to determine the rent you should charge by carefully checking rental rates of similar properties in your area in the classified section of the newspaper

• Advertise your property to attract tenant applicants

• Prepare or obtain a rental lease for the property that spells out specific terms and conditions. Legal concerns are very important to avoid future troubles.

• It is very important to interview prospective tenants while showing the property. Accept applications and security deposits provided them.

• Meticulously check credit, personal, and rental references of applicants, then decide on tenants for the property in a non-discriminatory manner

• Remember to review the terms of the lease with the selected applicants to make sure that they understand all conditions before signing

• A "walk-through" of the property with tenants on the day they move into your home is a good idea

Sukhpreet kaur writes on behalf of 99acres.com, which is an internet portal dedicated to meet every aspect of the consumers needs in the real estate industry. It is a forum where buyers, sellers and brokers can exchange information. At 99 acres, you can advertise a property in India , search for a property, browse through commercial property or and residential property.