Renting a House

Renting a house or a room in your home is a great business that millions of people take advantage of to make some extra cash. While many people rent houses each year, not all of them are successful. Renting a house can be profitable and rewarding if you manage it properly.

Benefits of Renting a House

The main reason for renting a house is you can gain a large steady income. Many people buy rental houses in areas that have a constant flow of tenants and rent them for much more than the cost of the mortgage. Or, you have decided to sell, but the property value is lower than you expected. Over time, a house rental will increase in value and you will gain capital appreciation in addition to a steady rental income.

Typically, a house will rent for a lot more than an apartment. They generally will offer more space and they are usually rented by groups such as families, professionals or students as an alternative to buying or renting smaller spaces.

Another benefit of renting a house is to use it as a vacation home and only rent for part of the year. Many people buy shore homes and rent them except for a few weeks of the year.

Don't forget about the tax advantages. Any tools, supplies and services you purchase for the house can be a tax deduction.

Challenges of Renting a House

Of course there are many challenges to renting a house. While rental income may be bigger, if a property goes un-rented for a period of time, you stand to lose more if you can't find tenants.

Maintenance of a home rental can also be challenging. Regular painting, lawn care, snow removal can require constant attention or qualified professionals that will cost you money.

Questions from your tenants on how things work, requests for repairs and rent collection can also take away from the experience of house renting.

House Renting Tips

1. Have tenants share some of the responsibilities. If you have a small yard, require the tenant take care of lawn and snow removal. Provide tenants with tools they need such as a mower, rake or shovel and assist whenever possible.

2. Collect utilities in advance. Often utilities will be in your name and difficult to recoup from tenants, especially after they are no longer renting your house. Determine the average cost of utilities used and include that amount in the rent.

3. Make the tenant feel at home. When renting a house, you want the tenant to stick around for a long time. Do something special, or provide a service that makes it hard for your tenants to want to leave.

4. Provide parking or make it easy of your tenants to park a car.

5. Provide laundry. Tenants won't want to drag there laundry in and out of your house rental. This simple feature will go a long way.

6. Pre-wire your house with Cable/DSL service. Your tenants will want this anyway so you are better off having it professionally installed. It will help you rent the house and avoid tenants drilling holes in your walls.

Before you Rent a House

Make sure your insurance covers your house as a rental. Some policies may charge extra if you are renting your house but if you don't let the insurance company know, you may not be covered.

Check with your city or town on regulations. Cities often have rules on what rooms in a house may be used for renting or the number of non family members that may live together.

Take time to research rents in the area. Get the most out of your house rental by getting facts on other rentals in your area.

Don Romanek has been investing in Real Estate for 15 years. He runs Off Campus Network, LLC. where landlords can advertise Houses for Rent or find articles, and forms to help manage rental property.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.