This summer the family and I will be going on sabbatical to Germany. While we are gone we will be renting out our house to a Spanish professor who is doing his sabbatical here in Tucson.
We’ve agreed (by e-mail, we’ve never met in person) to the basics such as when the house will be available and how much we will charge. Now what?
I’ve looked at some free rental agreement forms on the web and it brought several things to my mind that I hadn’t thought of. Should we ask a security deposit? How can we charge them for utilities when they are all in our name?
On the one hand, these people are exactly what we are looking for in tenants. They are mature, responsible, will take care of our dog, and I sincerely believe they will do a great job caring for the house. I don’t want to make this hard for them. On the other hand, I want to be sure we and the house are protected.
ALWAYS get a security deposit. Check with the laws in your state. One and a half months’ rent is standard here. You might want to ask for the last month’s rent up front too.
A written lease is a must. Forget how nice the people are and the verbal stuff. Put everything in writing, for your protection and theirs. Who is paying for repairs? How many people will be living there? What about the appliances?
Tenants can put the utilities in their names. Usually all that is required is a signed lease.
I can’t get all that stuff upfront because they’ll only be at our house for 2.5 months. It doesn’t seem worth it to transfer utilities into their names.
But I like the idea that this is for their protection too. I hadn’t thought about some of the ‘what-ifs’ like shat if the A/C breaks or they accidentally mess up the fridge.
If you don’t want a written lease, make up a “Use & Occupancy” agreement stating what the rent is, who is living there, utilities and repairs. If for some reason you do have to end up in court, the U&O will have everything spelled out. Make sure it is signed, dated, and notarized.
Also get copies of some form of ID–passports or driver’s licenses.
As a former tenant of a landlady who wanted to manager he own property while living in another country, it was a giant pain in the butt. I am talking about me living in England, and her in Scotland. When there are time zones involved - wheww.
Basically, we had to call her and get her approval on action for any problems - the boiler constantly broke, plug sockets and fuses were going, yet she insisted we ran it all by her so she could decide if she wanted to pay the damn plumber/electrician/environmental health officer(OK that one was a joke!). Couldn’t get hold of her for ages sometimes.
For your own peace of mind, and to stop your tenants going bananas, please do agree on what happens in the case of an emergency, such as who gets called, who takes decisions in these circumstances. You want to have a stress-free sabbatical, too!
I’m renting a house right now, the owner pays the utilities then emails me a spreadsheet of what he paid. I send him a check. For 2.5 months that should work. (unless the renter is a complete flake and in that case you’ll have bigger problems than the electric bill)
Does the renter smoke? Have you made arrangements for whether or not they or their guests are allowed to smoke in the house? Europeans tend to have different attitudes about this than Americans.
If they are taking care of your dog, are they aware of dog-poo cleanup laws in your area?
You also need to consider your homeowner’s insurance.
When we bought our current house, the previous owners were unable(willing) to move out for a month after closing, so we rented it to them for a month. We had to have a landlord policy on top of our standard homeowner’s policy. It only cost about $40 for the month and was simple to set up and then cancel when we were done.
If we didn’t have the policy and something had claim-worthy had happened while we weren’t the occupants, it would have been very bad.
If you can’t switch the utilities out of your name, consider blocking/password-protecting long-distance calling from your phone and pay-per-view for your cable. One of my sisters sublet her apartment to a woman who ran up a phone bill of several hundred dollars and flatly refused to pay, claiming that someone else must have made those calls … to the subletter’s home town … from my sister’s home number.
IME details like security deposit and what utilities will be paid are discussed along with the amount of the rent. If it’s just coming up now then he may fairly ask to revisit other terms of the friendly agreement you already have. A deposit is a risk for him, you don’t know he won’t break your fridge but he doesn’t know whether or not he’ll have to sue you to get the deposit back.
the fact that he’s taking care of your dog (will they be the only watchers/walkers?) kinda makes this a bit different than strictly landlord-tenant. what if the dog gets sick or lost, are you expecting him to drop everything to deal with that? will he get a deposit to cover those sorts of expenses? if you expect him to be flexible and forgiving when it comes to the dog he may expect you to be flexible and forgiving when a glass gets broken or something.
Probably not exactly what you are looking for, but for 2.5 months I WOULDN’T rent to someone I didn’t know.
If all goes well, then great - but IMHO 10 weeks rent simply isn’t worth the hassle that you need to go through to protect yourself agains the sorts of things you need to protect yourself against.
Not least of which, I am betting that all you furniture and electronics are gonna be left in the house, and accounting for these being in the same state after rental as before would be a nightmare.
I would be looking for a friend of some sort to stay in the house and look after your dog for you…maybe a relative or similiar that might need somewhere to stay for a while or enjoy a break in a different city…
I’d also include quirky things about your house or neighborhood. How does the garage door opener work? Does he have to worry about changing the filter in the AC unit? How can he shut off the water/gas in case of an emergency? Does your community have 911? If so, does he know how to use it? Can the neighbors park in your drive/pick the tomatoes out of your garden/share your lawn mower? Who mows the lawn?
Leave instructions for everything–washing machine, dishwasher, ice-maker, etc. I wouldn’t want to assume that he knows about your appliances. also, leave directions/suggestions for local things (libraries, community centers, food delivery, etc.)
Stock up on cleaning supplies and label them. (“This Brand X Multi-propose spray can be used on the kitchen counters, the top of the stove and the floors.” “Bathroom spray can be used to clean the toilets and the tub and sinks in bathroom.”)
Something completely gross to me (and I’ve seen it far too many times) is people who don’t wash their bed sheets often enough to suite me. (Once a week for me.) Nothing more disgusting than someone who hasn’t washed the pillow case for 10 weeks and it’s beyond bleach to get clean. Buy a set of bed sheets for them to use (likewise with towels).
Agreed. You may not need to have everything in writing, but you can’t know that up front.
My landlady and I were just discussing our lease yesterday. One thing it stipulates is that guests staying for more than seven days must be approved in writing. I told my landlady that my mom is coming down for a month or so when I have my baby, and asked if I needed written approval. She said that the lease was the generic form provided by the broker, and that since she (now) knows and trusts us, we didn’t have to follow it to the letter. I’m sure the story would be different if we were bad tenants.
here’s another little thing to get nervous about:
what happens if your dog doesnt like him?
The Spanish professor may claim to be a dog lover–but what if your dog goes nuts, refuses to let him attach the leash, barks all night and then bites him?
Seriously–will you be meeting face to face once, and at least a couple of days before he moves in?
Maybe he will be shocked and want to back out of the arrangement, or maybe you will be shocked and want to back out…but surely it makes sense to at least meet in person …before you sign contracts.
(sorry to insult your dog, who is probably the most cutesy-wutesy puppy…but you didnt say if it’s a chihuahua or a St Bernard, and besides, …me…I like kitties)
Aren’t there real estate agents that manage rental properties? I really wouldn’t try to do it myself, you might get lucky but you might not. A house is too big of an investment to gamble with. The manager might get a sizeable cut but they also deal with the bullshit.
The only thing I’d add is that (if you haven’t already) I’d try to talk to someone independent who knows the renting professor, perhaps a colleague at their institution or someone at your institution in their field who would know them. You don’t need full-scale security clearance, but make sure they really are a professor there and that they’re not famous for mental breakdowns. It’s a big advantage that you’re renting to someone also in academia who presumably has a responsible position and reputation, but you still need to do a little diligence.
