Our home has been on the market for 4 months. 7-8 lookers, No offers. Our contract ends Dec 18th. We may relist in January.

We would like to rent it out while we are trying to sell so we can recoup some of the mortgage payment.

We have moved most of our belongings to our new town.

Any thoughts on this??

My house has been on the market since Sept. I just found out yesterday that my new house will be ready the end of Jan. early Feb. I just called my realtor today and he will be listing the house for rent and for sale. Which ever comes first, I'm taking it because I don't want 2 mortgage payments.

Just remember it may be hard to get a renter out once they are in. Better check out "renter's rights" . Our house will be ready in Jan also and our Home Owners Assc does not allow us to rent our properties.

yep, you have to be really careful with renters now. A lot of home owners here have had a lot of issues with renters and there home is not worth a cent now.
People destroying your home and selling illegal things in there.
They also rang up there hydro bills to thousands.
Now these poor people cannot even sell there homes as it was shown on TV…
Please make sure you get references and check them..
Also do a credit check and request visits to your home.. and inspect not walk thru
Get the contract written up by your lawyer .

I think that is sad that you can't trust renters. Mu hubby and I always treated our rented home just like we did our home home. We took care of the flower bed (If we didn't I don't think that landlord would have we were lucky they mowed). But we treated it like it was ours and had pride in it. But I know that some others that rented around us didn't treat it like there own or if they did I would never want to see what a home they owned might look like.

I would be careful thou and check out all avenues before you rent it out and also do a back ground check if you can. There does need to be a clause in your contract about selling it thou so that the people know that if it sells they have so many days to find somewhere else to go.

Good luck I really hope you can just sell it and not mess with renting to others because not everyone cares. Good luck thou.

I would NOT rent while you are trying to sell, and would not rent if you won't be near to know what's going on, or know the property manager will do that for you. We've been renting out a house for 20+ years and it is unbelievable how much wear and tear folks can cause...not all, but enough to make me know we won't do it here while we are waiting to sell. I feel your pain as we will be having two mortgages starting in March. Our only exception might our son who is 24 (his apt. lease is up in March) to see if he might want to rent our house for a nominal amount plus utilities, but if we do that, I want the house to remain for sale and that means he'd have to keep it in shape for showings...not sure he could/would. If we do change our minds and rent it, won't try to keep it for sale at the same time, but rather rent it for a couple of years and then know we'd have to put money in it to sell, but then maybe the market will be better - who knows Decisions, decisions

Maybe an alternative woukld be to do a lease/purchase option?
It would be like having a renter in that they are paying the mortgage but as possible purchasers they have some financial and emotional investment in the property.
A young family who maybe having trouble coming up with a down payment may find this alternative attractive.

Contact a real estate attorney to work out the details should you do this so you are protected.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: crazymaggiemay,

We really liked the stats of one house, but couldn't look at it because it had renters. I have no idea how they expected anyone to buy a house sight unseen...

Also, the house we're renting now was demolished by the last renters. There were over a dozen people living in it when they finally got them evicted. The neighbor told me the filth was so bad *they* were bothered by it.

Renting might be a bigger headache than two mortgages...

Laura

I've been on both sides of this fence.

While trying to sell our house with renters in it....very difficult. Most people do not keep their house in "show" condition, and we found that it did not show well at all, hardly worth listing it. We finally had to evict them (for non payment) and the house was a wreck. Took a month and about eight thousand dollars to get it back into shape. I'll never own a rental house again, and it was really not our choice. Uncle Sam chose to move us, and we had to rent until the market came back. When you consider the money we lost on the tenants, and the money to fix the house up again, we should have just given it away.

Since we couldn't sell our house, we had to rent at the next place. We've always treated a rental house as our own and kept it in excellent, "almost show" condition. The owners decided to try to sell the house while we lived there, the last four months of our first years' lease. It was such a bother keeping the house perfect, and leaving almost every Sunday for an open house, after working all week, and spending Saturday getting it in tip top condition, then having people call for showings through the week, that we felt we were paying rent on a house we couldn't live in. That gets old, too, and I admit, I got very tired of trying to sell someone else's house. We moved as soon as possible, and the house still didn't sell and they had to rent it again.

I wouldn't even bother putting it on the market if there are renters living in the house. It just isn't fair to them.

I'm reading this thread w/ great interest. Over a year ago I closed on a turn of the century farmhouse in the country for investment and as a vacation home. I've renovated, remodeled and updated my farmhouse and I just spent 2 1/2 months living there and I LOVED it. I'm not ready to sell my house in Fl so I listed it for rent. I PRAY for good renters.My heart is in the country and I want to experience living there w/out selling my primary residence. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I listed my house w/ a Realtor and I really hope this is a positive experience! I'll keep you all posted! Annie

Not here! Too many things could happen! Number one, (not all renters are risky) but some one that could care less about your property could trash it, do illegal activitiy in it, you name it.I have had friends that have rented to people that could not get them out(and they had good references too) and had to go to the courts for an eviction. Another thing is that renter going to keep your property in "show condition?" Probably not, they just want to live there. Besides that, wonder if the renter likes your place so well that he does not want to buy it yet he does not want anyone else to either? IMO just too many things that can happen to your property. If you do go the renter thing I wish you alot of luck. Like I said before not all renters are risky......I would do alot of homework before you rent it out though. JMO

I also had nothing but problems with a home that i rented. The rent was very high and the renters were all people with high paying jobs. When they moved out about a year later, I couldn't believe the mess. The house and bathrooms had never been cleaned in that year. A teenage girls bedroom had every tag from clothing stores covering the wall to wall carpet. Under the front entry stairs in the basement they emptied the cat box! EWWW!

Although there are exceptions, for the most part, renters do not care for a home as they should. To rent a home that is listed for sale is placing it at risk. As indicated, renters will not have the home in show condition. Why should they care? It's not their home and likely do not care if it ever sells.

Lease to own sounds like a better option. If leased at an amount that would cover the mortgage, insurance, and taxes, you would be covered. If they back out of the lease, then you are back to square one with painting and improving to get the house back on the market.

Speaking as one that has been on both sides, it's really not fair to the renters. You pay your rent, yet you are continually having to "show" the house. Everyone here knows what it's like to try to keep the house ready to show at any time, and say they can't wait to get their life back.

It's really a no win situation. If I ever have to sell again with renters in the house, I will give them a good reduction on the rent.