After you have screened your tenant and have decided that they are okay to live there, the next step is going to be making sure that you are aware of everything that is wrong in the house before the tenant moves in.  That is why taking a picture of the place before anyone moves in is so important.

When you are a landlord, you are responsible for so many things and you definitely want to make sure that if you get taken to court for anything at all – that you are certainly going to be able to proof your tenants wrong.  Always cover your back!

You also want to make sure that you keep track of any of the repairs that you do to the house or any receipts that you think might be useful.

Sometimes, some landlords are open to negotiation. However, this is not true for all of them, and realizing this up front is going to save you a whole lot of frustration.

Some apartment houses or communities simply will not allow pets. Trying to change their mind is just going to make you angry. Thus you may want to first look at individual properties; sometimes the owners of those properties are more open to negotiation.

You can help yourself out as well, by taking up some of the responsibility. Make sure a potential landlord knows you are responsible; show them some references from previous landlords.

You will be able to find a pet friendly rental property somewhere out there. Planning and patience are both key elements, however.

Finding a rental property that accepts pets can be an effort in frustration, but there are tips you can follow to give you a hand.

For one thing, you have to give yourself plenty of time to find such a place. You need to check out appropriate adds at least a month and a half before moving.

You also need to be understanding. Landlords do not reject pets because they are mean spirited; many of them are simply protecting their properties.

As well, you need to use the resources which are available to you. If you contact animal care agencies in the area you will be moving to, they may be able to give you a list of rental properties that do not have a problem with pets.

Now, when I first started in the real estate area – I had no idea that there were houses that were actually referred to and rented out as apartments.  While I have heard of duplexes, I did not realize that you could take a three story house and make it so it had kitchens on each floor and bathrooms on each floor along with bedrooms – that is what an apartment house really is.

Currently, I am living in Michigan but I am going to be relocating to the Boston area and I have to say that in Michigan – we don’t have these but Boston is full of them!  That is really all they have besides complexes.  To me – this is a fantastic idea!

These house/apartments are fantastic for people that have dogs and cats for if you are on the bottom level – you get the yard.

When things get fishy and you are not sure that the offer you are so into is legitimate, there is one hard, fast, unbreakable rule: DO NOT PAY ANY MONEY!

Secondly, feel free to pester.  Let the potential landlord know you are uncomfortable with this situation.  Do not rest until you get a working phone number and address to reach the person, not to mention the verifiable address of the rental property.

If it is at all possible, acquire the services of a broker to act as a go between.  He or she will be able to ascertain whether this rental offer is legitimate, and it will save you from getting duped into anything.

Keep other properties in mind.  Sure, I am in love with this house, it suits all my needs, and it is affordable, but I know I logically have to realize that there are other places available out there.  I cannot hang all my hopes on this one property; I simply have to hope it turns out well.

I have got some up front talking to do, if you get my drift.  I am going to be making a move from Detroit to Boston quite soon, and am discovering the perils of renting a property without being in a position to view it right away.

Right now, renting is the only option, and naturally I started looking at places as soon as I found out I was going to move.  After recovering from the simultaneous coronary and aneurysm caused by seeing the rental prices of places in and around Boston, I buckled down in earnest, and promptly fell in love with a house that, wonder of wonders, I can actually afford!

But there are several problems.  Several things seem fishy.  The person leasing the house lives abroad … and wants me to pay a security deposit sight unseen … and barring that wants me to pay $350 dollars so she can mail the key with full insurance … and, and, and — and what do you do when you fall in love, only to experience so many fishy problems?

Now, while it is very true that lots and lots more rental properties are more than happily to allow pets, you still have to be quite careful.  Often there are fees involved, some of them open and some of them hidden.  This may not seem like a big deal, but it is if you are not aware of the fact and thus cannot factor it into your budget.

In general, those renters who do charge you fees for your pets will charge, say, about fifty to sixty dollars for large animals and twenty to thirty for smaller ones.  They may charge deposits in case animals mess up the floors, the carpets, or the furniture.

You may be able to negotiate here, however, by offering to put down carpet yourself and things of that nature.  Or, you may simply want to pay the extra fees each month — but you at least need to make sure you are aware of them, so you can factor them into your budget.

For many of us, our pets are like members of our families.  They are, not to put too fine a point on it, like our children.  But what do you do when you are renting a house, an apartment, a duplex, a townhouse, et cetera, and want to bring your pets with you?  It is well and good for people who may not be animal lovers to say that pets cannot rule your decisions, but that is easier said than done.

The good news is that, these days, rental properties are becoming more and more pet friendly.  So, when you are looking for a new place to rent, the first thing you need to do is check out those ads which specifically say that the property is pet friendly.

However, as you will see in the next post, you always need to make sure to read the fine print, as it were.

Now that we have discussed a little bit about renting your house such as drawing up a contract, the next step is going to be deciding whether or not you are going to furnish the house that you are going to rent.  There are pros and cons to doing so and you really have to weight them out in order to see if it is worth it to really furnish it.

Firstly, one of the cons is that you have to actually buy all of the furniture and such and make sure that it looks halfway decent – that is a lot of work for someone that you do not even know.  However, there is a flip side and that is going to be that you do get to charge more when you provide a furnished house, so that is something to consider.

It is all your decision, but just know, that if you do furnish the house, you can absolutely charge more and even put a clause in the contract that the renter’s have to pay for the property if it is damaged.  More to come!

Renting your home out can be very difficult, especially if you wanted to sell it but do not think you can because of the economy.  While renting is a good thing to do because that way you are still making money, there are a few things that you need to think about whenever you are renting a property.  The first thing is going to be drawing up a contract. 

You definitely want to have a contract in place whenever you are renting something to anyone.  That is going to be the very first step, even before you begin getting your house ready to be rented out.  This will take some legal advice, so make sure that you engage a lawyer to see if they can draw up just a standard contract for you. 

That is one of the main reasons why this should be done first, because as many of you know, engaging a lawyer for anything takes a lot of time and it is certainly something that you need to consider!  More on how to rent your home in the next blog!  Stay tuned…