Realty Idea

[Order]

So Im considering buying a house to rent out.
The places Im looking at are in good shape and going for 65-70k, mortgage estimate 250-350.
I already know there will be no trouble finding reliable tennants.
What I dont know is,
What are the legal responsabilities required of me?

I dont know if any of you have tried it before, but
is there anything I should watch out for that I probably wouldnt think of considering this would be my first attempt?

[Rowan]

insurance and make sure your tennants arn't assholes. They have a certain degree of power by paying you for the property and you cant just kick them out if they start ruining the house. Sure, they will lose their bond but what if the damage to the house surpasses the bond? Also, I have heard that in some cases if things go wrong with the house that are the cause of misuse or overuse etc, perhaps a broken tap in the sink or blah blah, you have you to fix it out of your pocket which is basically saying you pay for their wear and tear. I could be wrong about that, but I have heard some horror stories about renting out.

[Pete]

It depends on the agreement and the lease contract that you make the tenants sign. Chances are, you'll be responsible for any in the wall upgrades, like plumbing and electrical, but not things like the water or power bill, which can easily enough go in the tenants name.

You can pretty much navigate any aspect of the contract. If it's a house with a lawn, you can either have them mow the lawn to keep it respectable, or stipulate that you'll take care of it yourself. The same goes for snow and ice. I don't know what area you're looking to rent these places, but if you get slammed with snow and ice, chances are, you as the owner can be sued if anyone slips and falls on ice. You may have to go out there and shovel.

Most things are discretionary, but you'll have to provide the basic amenities, like a fridge and stove, as well as smoke/ CO2 detectors. I'm sure there are laws that vary from state to state about coverage and the like, but as far as I know, you're responsible for the "hardware" unless the tenant wrecks the place.

[Order]

Well, Im expecting to maintain appliances and repair wear on the house. I'm prepaired to deal with pain in the *ss tenants, so I wont go into that.

I didnt think about the snow/ice management thing. Thats a good point. I could probably defer responsability by hiring a lawncare service who also does snow removal and ice prevention.
Of course, that would require higher rent to yeild profit.
The average rent in this area is pretty high (notice Im purposefully leaving my location out), it might actually be resonable to go with a service like that.
I think i am able to require the tennants to have renter's insurance. Ill have to look at what that includes, but I wonder it would cover things like fire damage due to tennants setting candles under curtains...

Im more concerned with things like lawnchairs on the roof tearing shingles or benchpress on the portch breaking rails than I am with a tennant throwing a tantrum.
There is always legal action which can be taken against a tennant who has good enough credit history to make my personal approval for a renter.