Renting out your home in Vancouver, Washington can be quite overwhelming, and finding ways to safeguard the entire transaction can take some time and diligence. There are many reasons for renting your home. Perhaps you’re a military officer and you are reporting to a new station on a temporary basis or you need to get a few extra dollars each month from renting the unoccupied room in your house to a college student.
Each of those reasons is perfectly valid, and it’s important to consider some factors before moving on with the transaction.
- Find out Extra Costs
- Don’t Work With Middlemen
- Make Effective Use of the Internet
- Accept Credit Cards
- Advertise your Home
First and foremost, you’ll need to determine additional home rental costs such as fees and taxes you’ll owe to the Vancouver authorities for being a landlord. You may also be required to pay some money to the Homeowners Association (HOA). Again, you’ll also need to be financially able to handle the times when your house is vacant.
By eliminating the real estate broker or agent and carrying out the home rental process yourself, you’ll be able to save at least 20-25% of the initial revenue. Again, you’ll be able to attract many more future tenants than you would receive from a broker.
The simplest way to determine what your tenant should pay as rent is to carry out comprehensive research using sites like Home, Trulia and Zillow. This will give you an idea of what comparable homeowners are charging for rent. If you’re only renting out a single room, look at the apartments sections to get an estimate of a fair home rental amount. Create your own website and post top photos/videos to promote your home. If you can’t access a good digital camera, hire a photographer to take pictures/videos for you.
Hotels are your main competitors so you need to be as flexible as possible. Since most hotels require their clients to send them a check for deposit, you’ll probably outsmart them by choosing to accept credit cards. For security purposes, you can let your potential tenant fill a credit card authorization form.
There are many reputable websites focused on the home rental market in Vancouver, Washington and you can get many inquiries from them. Some of the most famous websites include FlipKey, Craigslist, HomeAway and VacationHomeRentals, just to mention a few. Ensure you have all important information. Again, allow your tenants to post reviews after their stay. The more positive reviews you get the more the inquiries.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
