Now, due to coronavirus, it may not be a good idea to sell your house. However, you can always rent it, especially if you need some extra cash. At least, this source of income is going to help you cover some expenses. Generally speaking, this is definitely a good idea; however, you have to think about some essential things first, if you want to avoid potential troubles later down the line.

Having your property rented out to a stranger can sometimes be risky. Still, this conclusion shouldn’t discourage you from renting out your place. You just have to be more careful if you don’t know the future tenant very well. This article is going to help you go through this process without any problems!

The Steps That Must Be Taken

Find A Suitable Tenant

No matter how nice and polite he or she may seem, a tenant is, at the end of the day, a stranger, and that’s a fact that cannot be avoided. Therefore, it would be good to at least find one through relatives, friends, or acquaintances. If that’s not an option, then you can advertise your apartment in local newspapers. Create an application form for a potential tenant and ask him/her to fill it out. What does it have to include? It should involve basic information like name, line of work, salary, and even maybe references.

Additionally, you should also check if this person has a criminal record and their credit reports. If you’re doing this alone without an agency, ensure to do these things:

• Check references by contacting their employers. If possible, you can also find their previous landlords and talk to them too!
• Check their credit reports – This can be done through one of these credit reporting companies, such as TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian.
• Find out whether he or she has a criminal history.

Prepare Your Home For Tenants

Unless your house is already perfectly clean, you won’t be able to rent your place if it looks messy or simply isn’t clean enough. If you can’t do it by yourself, you can always hire companies that provide high quality end of tenancy cleaning to make sure it looks presentable. Renters can often be quite picky, especially if the competition is really good.

Plus, all of them have quite huge expectations when it comes to the appearance of the house. Besides cleaning, you should also see if all appliances are working well and are at least in relatively good condition. In case they aren’t, find a way to repair them, or contact a professional to help you fix them.

Other Things To Do

Determine The Price

Most landlords are not quite sure about this. They set the rent price that is either too high or too low. In order to find the right one, we advise you to research the market thoroughly to see which price is fair. Once the right price is determined, you will be able to find suitable tenants quickly.

There are a lot of online applications that can help you with the rental rates, so be sure to download one of them. Before you make a final decision, think about how it impacts your financials. After all, this is your source of income. Ensure to compare your costs with the rental income to see if you are gaining any profits from this. The whole point of renting is to have more money than usual.

Pet Policy

No matter how much you adore having a pet (that’s if you have one), this situation is a little bit different and requires thinking ahead. Why is this potentially concerning? Well, even though animals are adorable, they can also be destructive.

Imagine investing a lot of money into furniture, just to see it destroyed in a short period. And it’s not just about the furniture. Furry friends can potentially damage your walls, as well as your carpets.  Even if the animal is well-behaved, no one can guarantee you that it won’t destroy something accidentally. If a puppy or a kitten pees on your floors or carpets, the smell won’t go away so easily even after washing.

All in all, in this case, you have two options. You can forbid pets, or you can allow them but demand a pet deposit in case something bad occurs. In that case, your tenant is going to cover all costs.

Stay Focused!

Although this entire process may seem easy, it isn’t. These days it’s hard to find a tenant you can trust. Therefore, you should consider all these suggestions before you find the right one. By doing that, you will make sure that everything goes smoothly.