To rent or not to rent?

Part of the preparation to go to Grenada is renting our home while we are away.  We will be doing this for a couple of reasons and while it makes us anxious to have someone else in our home; we believe the benefits far out way the risks.

The first is financial, by renting we will be able to offset some fixed costs like our mortgage and taxes.  We are hoping to rent our home furnished, with all utilities and extras included. This will save us time packing and also mean not having to pay to keep furniture in storage. Another reason is it eliminates worrying about utility connections/disconnects or the tenants paying the bills. We have always known that this trip will cost us money. It would be different if you were a single renter and decided to pack up and go, you give your notice and put your belongings in storage. It is more complicated when you are a family of four, so we know that there will be costs we can’t off set- and it is the price you pay for an adventure of a lifetime.

The second is piece of mind, knowing someone is in the house and keeping an eye on it for us.  Having said that we seem to attract every person who has a horror story of tenants from hell. We know we could come back to damage or a tenant who had no dogs when they arrived and 5 Chows and 3 ferrets when they leave. It is a risk we have to take. To offset some of the risk we are moving all of our personal items out and this puts me more at ease.  With regards to the furniture and kitchen items our tenants will be using while we are away; we are at that stage of our lives where we were thinking of replacing some of the furniture anyway now that the kids are not spilling (as much) food on it anymore- so what are a few more stains?

Since I invest in rental real estate, I already have a great team that I can lean on for advice (Butler Mortgage, Rock Star Inner Circle, and Todd O’Donnell at State Farm) to help get my home rented. Locally, Lorraine O’Quinn and the O’Quinn Team have been contacted in case they run into a client that is building a home or waiting for the right house to come on the market and need a place to stay while on the hunt. 

Getting the word out is key, and we are taking advantage of free advertising with Kijiji, and telling everyone we meet that we are looking for short term renters.  We will also take out ads in our local newspapers and post ads on community boards where we think we will hit the right type of audience.

Renting is going to cut our personal costs in half for this trip so please send some good vibes (or tenants) our way.

Check out the house on kijiji.