If this has been covered elsewhere, kindly direct me to the thread:
My wife and I are moving from Michigan to the east coast next year and we're toying with the idea of renting out our home instead of selling it. In our particular situation, we'd prefer to hold onto the house as an asset. Homes in the area are continuing to appreciate and rents are high enough that we could potentially cover our expenses and even get a little cash flow.
I would love to hear some of your experiences with renting out your home, why you did it and what you wish you'd know before doing it.
Here's how the numbers break down for our area:
Mortgage.......................... $1747
Repairs/Maintenance.............$200
Landscaping........................ $100
Insurance............................$110
Management fees.................$200
Total..................................$2357
Rental rate.........................$2500
Cash-flow..............................$143
These are very conservative estimates and, considering that nearly everything in the house has been updated, inspected and meticulously maintained, I'm not worried about catastrophic maintenance issues. The only thing I'm worried about are bad tenants who will trash my house.
Anything else I'm missing?
