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jennyal
LIF Adult
Member since 8/07 1430 total posts
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anyone rent out their 1st home?
so as you know i am leaving my coop for a house that we hope to close at the end of the month....we listed to sell our coop (at a loss), but havent had any bites...so we were thinking about renting it out for a year and see what happens after...we'd rent it out and basically break even with the coop mortage payment...has anyone had any experience or advice on this???? THANKS!!!!!
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Posted 1/24/13 12:49 PM  |
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Re: anyone rent out their 1st home?
Yep, if you search some of my past posts, I rented out my condo when I got married because I was underwater on it. I've had it as a rental for about 3-4 years now - its been going well fortunately because I screened all my tenants very carefully and required extensive credit/background checks.
First things first- find out what the rental regulations are from your co-op board. Sometimes they add a rental surcharge to your maintenance fee (mine did). Sometimes they require you to submit all the documents directly to them or not. It totally depends.
Second, you will want to select a rental price and start advertising. You can go to a regular RE agency and advertise through them or go independent (Craigslist is very popular). The nice part about going through an agency is that they may screen the tenants for you so it saves you time.
The following web site helped me in terms of creating a template for Lease and Security Deposit agreements, etc. As a landlord, you will have to be on top of all this stuff and NYC is one of those areas where Courts are very tenant friendly, so you want to cover all your bases before you take on Landlord Responsibilities.
http://www.thelpa.com/
Message board for landlords:
http://www.thelpa.com/lpa/forum.html?id=XZc8hFyo
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| Posted 1/24/13 12:59 PM |
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jennyal
LIF Adult
Member since 8/07 1430 total posts
Name:
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Re: anyone rent out their 1st home?
is there alot of paperwork to do?i dont know if it'll be worth it? my fear is that the tenant will mess up the place after a year and then I'll have to fix it all up...are you able to take mortage interest deducitions on both homes and obviously you have rental income?
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| Posted 1/24/13 1:13 PM |
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Re: anyone rent out their 1st home?
Posted by jennyal
is there alot of paperwork to do?i dont know if it'll be worth it? my fear is that the tenant will mess up the place after a year and then I'll have to fix it all up...are you able to take mortage interest deducitions on both homes and obviously you have rental income?
Paperwork is going to vary depending on what your co-op board requires. My condo board requires all owners to submit an Application form with a $ 250 fee to have a tenant live in your unit. The Board doesnt screen them, but they still want a copy of the tenant's driver's license, employment information and emergency contact info. The process was a bit tedious only because my condo board is run by complete misfits... They kept losing my application and then kept sending me the maintanance bill to my unit instead of to my new address after I got married..
So it really depends - thats why I suggest you go to them first and ask them if (1) rentals are even allowed, and (2) whether they want tenants to fill out application forms or give them documents. Everything else is pretty much up to you - but if you want to ensure you have a QUALITY tenant (someone who doesn't mess up the place after a year or never pays rent) - you need to perform your due diligence. That means screening that tenant carefully - asking them income/employment history, references, and prior landlord history.
You are not allowed to discriminate (Housing Laws) so you have to be really careful about it - the only reason you can legally deny a potential tenant's application is because of inability to pay. For ex: I had 1 woman from Brooklyn who worked as a photographer (self employed, divorced) and 2 hours after seeing my unit wanted to move in ASAP. She asked me if I would accept 6 months rent in cash on the spot because her credit history was not perfect due to her divorce. The condo board president (also a RE broker) referred her to me and told me her credit history was horrible. There was no way I wanted to risk taking her on, even if she did give me 6 months of rent in cash up front.
My current tenant is a single woman and NYPD officer - she's absolutely wonderful, no problems, a total neat freak, pays rent on schedule every month. However I spent a good 2-3 months screening tenants to find her.
It isnt easy and requires time unfortunately, but its definately do-able.
Best of luck!
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| Posted 1/24/13 2:31 PM |
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jennyal
LIF Adult
Member since 8/07 1430 total posts
Name:
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Re: anyone rent out their 1st home?
how do they pay you? do they send you a check or do they just wire you the $...sorry for the questions...but THANKS for answering them!!! 
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| Posted 1/24/13 2:40 PM |
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Re: anyone rent out their 1st home?
Posted by jennyal
how do they pay you? do they send you a check or do they just wire you the $...sorry for the questions...but THANKS for answering them!!!
For my first tenant, I would actually go in person to pick up the rent either by cash or check (I'd usually stop by on a Sunday afternoon after the 1st of the month). However, they had a crazy schedule so eventually mailed me Western Union checks the week before rent was due (which in retrospect, wasn't smart.. )
For my current tenant, I set up a separate Easy Checking account at Citibank (min $ 1500 in the account to avoid fees) and I gave my tenant the account number. All she has to do is physically stop at any Citibank branch on the 1st of the month to pay her rent. It works out perfectly since has her deposit slip as proof of payment, and I get an instant alert on my phone of a new deposit.
As to rental income - yes I have to pay taxes on it. I get to list depreciation though, so if the sink or a bathroom pipes needs repair - whatever $$ I shel out of my own pocket to pay for it, I can deduct it on my taxes.
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| Posted 1/24/13 2:45 PM |
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Suzie4
LIF Infant
Member since 1/12 168 total posts
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Re: anyone rent out their 1st home?
yes we were in the same boat last year and just ended up renting it. So far it has been going well.
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| Posted 1/24/13 7:46 PM |
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