Tips to consider before renting out your place
Feb 29, 2016, 5:30 AM | Updated: 10:41 am
FILE - This April 6, 2011 file photo shows a "For Rent" sign in front of a home in Los Angeles. Home rental price growth slowed down in January 2016 as even sizzling markets such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver and Portland are cooling. Real estate data firm Zillow said Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016 that median rent rose a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent from a year ago. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
The first spring training game of 2016 is Tuesday, but before you decide to rent out your place, there are a couple of things to remember.
“People need to be very careful if they’re thinking about short-term renting out their property,” said KTAR legal analyst Monica Lindstrom.
Sites like Airbnb have made renting out your apartment — home or condo — more popular and easy, but there are risks.
“First of all if they lease the property themselves, if they have a landlord, they need to find out if they’re allowed to do this under their lease,” Lindstrom said.
If the person’s landlord doesn’t allow it, they could find themselves being evicted.
This applies to those who own also.
“If you have a condo or a home with a home owners association or a condo association, you need to look up the rules to make sure that the association allows you to rent out your place short-term,” Lindstrom said.
If it doesn’t and you choose to do so anyway, you could be facing fines.
“They also need to know about insurance,” Lindstrom said. “The property needs to be insured and your items inside the place might need to be insured as well.”
Those considering renting also need to decide how to handle their personal items.
“If you leave your personal items you need to be aware that people are very curious and they will snoop around,” she said. “They might come with some of your personal information so those are items that you need to either move or lock up.”
Additionally, you should always attempt to do a background check on the person that you’re going to rent your place out to first, she said.
“Background checks are relatively inexpensive and can be done easily,” Lindstrom said.
Finally if you do rent your place out there’s always a possibility that your short-term tenant might not ever leave.
“In that event, you’re going to have to go to court to try to kick them out,” she said.
As if a situation like that wasn’t strenuous enough, Lindstrom said that process is not easy.
