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Thoughts on being a landlord

All good advice. You're dealing with people and their problems. Also a few years from now you wouldn't be able to sell and not pay capital gains tax. As it would no longer be your primary residence
 
It sucks to loose a great interest rate but I've found a few things ring true as I've been a landlord since 2012 when I bought my first rental.

If you are going to rent, either have one paid off property or 5 to 10 properties with mortgages.

The more properties you have, the more passive the income is.

BUT one great tenant with only 1 good property will work great for all but 1 bad tenant and only 1 rental and it can be a nightmare.

It took me almost 60 days in 2022 to evict someone in Cherokee county. And let me say that again, it took almost 60 days for the sheriff's office to serve the eviction. The tenant moved out, luckily for me, they didn't trash the place, because I would have moved forward with the eviction and prevented them from living in decent places for a while.

I've had tenant leave the property better then when they moved in.

I've had tenants completely trash the place.

Most are in the middle.

Heck, I even had one tenant not tell me about a leaking kitchen faucet until a did my yearly inspection upon lease renewal. I still don't know why they didn't.

I have 1 rental left, but it's on a property that is paid off.

I help large investors with rentals, and it only works on scale.
 
I've had the best of tenants and the worst of tenants.

The selection process is key and I've had better luck with females renting than males.

If you can mentally deal with the situation, go for it. There is no better investment if you can make it work. If you were to sell and invest the money you will never have the same monthly income that the rental affords.

Now, if you get the wrong renter the story can be completely different.

Good luck whichever course you take!
 
So, I'll be moving later this year, but my current home (a townhouse) has a pre-pandemic mortgage rate (<3%) and is in nice neighborhood, so I was thinking of renting it out rather than selling it outright. Not Air-BnB or anything, just a traditional year-at-a-time lease.

The house is in good shape, the grounds are maintained by the HOA, and I have contractors I can call for any mechanical issues so it shouldn't be a big management hassle.

My main question was whether I should create an LLC for it. I'd hate to have a tenant fall down the stairs and sue me personally, although I guess the lawyer costs would come out of me either way. Does an LLC make sense for a single rental property?

Also, any other thoughts on being a landlord would be appreciated.
The tenants are the key! Short story, mother has several rental properties! I got a call that there’s a water leak. I’ll pull up to the house. Water is running out the front door. The toilet was overflowing. They had raised the furniture upon blocks and we’re walking around barefoot inside the house with water covering every square inch of the house.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. It sounds like the rental idea is probably a no-go then... Just clean up the place and put it up for sale when I move.
I completely respect and understand your decision, every situation is different. You are not making a bad decision to sell. It does suck to give up a low interest rate, but invest the profits and make the best of it. Good luck, always here to advise if needed.
Respectfully,
The outhouse advisor.
 
So, I'll be moving later this year, but my current home (a townhouse) has a pre-pandemic mortgage rate (<3%) and is in nice neighborhood, so I was thinking of renting it out rather than selling it outright. Not Air-BnB or anything, just a traditional year-at-a-time lease.

The house is in good shape, the grounds are maintained by the HOA, and I have contractors I can call for any mechanical issues so it shouldn't be a big management hassle.

My main question was whether I should create an LLC for it. I'd hate to have a tenant fall down the stairs and sue me personally, although I guess the lawyer costs would come out of me either way. Does an LLC make sense for a single rental property?

Also, any other thoughts on being a landlord would be appreciated.
People and especially renters suck.
 
It really just depends on your personal ability to deal with the stress that it will cause at times. I had a few for several years. When it is good it’s great, when it’s bad it’s not. I in time owner financed mine and it has been fine.
 
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