Renting

Renting a Home?

ERA Liberty Realty can assist you in renting a home! We have agents that will show and others that will manage rental properties. Because we understand that owning your own home may not be in your cards; our rental agents will work with you within your budget to help find the right rental. They will work with the seller to list or list and manage a rental unit. Renting a home has never been easier with ERA Liberty Realty - on the renting, listing, and managing fronts!

How We Can Find, List, Market, & Manage Your Rental

Renting a home and leasing out a home have very different processes and paperwork. Each will have different timeframes as well. Generally, budgets need to be established, an agent needs to be found, and the search for a tenant or rental can be tedious. Assisting with the tedious is only one part of a real estate agent's job. Our team of rental agents are familiar to the fast paced rental market and can keep your specifics in mind while marketing or searching for your rental.

If you have questions, but no agent, give us a call! If you have an agent and have questions, give them a call. Being well informed on any real estate transaction is key to having that transaction flow smoothly. Agents are there for your questions and concerns. Use them when you are renting a home!

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Drop us a line for more info about finding a home to rent or lease your property. We will get you connected with an awesome real estate professional!

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Searching for a Home to Rent

Budget Check First Find Your Agent Create a Realistic Search & Tour Getting Your Terms Straight Sign The Lease

Budget Check First

Generally, like buying a home, you need to check your budget limitations prior to searching for or renting a home. This should be the first step as it will tell you where you should look, what type of building you should be looking at, and what you can afford. Here are some quick items to think over when you are creating your budget plan.

What is your average water/electric/cell phone bill
How much do you spend in gas
How much is your car insurance
What do you spend on food
How much to you spend on non-necessary items
What would the prospective rent a month be
Due at rental lease signing will be the first months rent and a security deposit (usually it is the same amount as the monthly rent). Do you have that money in hand? Will you be able to provide it when needed?

Now take your monthly paycheck and subtract the above from it. What is left? If it's too much for your liking then move on to a lower priced rental. *This simple subtraction model is for the purpose of roundabout figures only. Speak to someone with a financial background for a more accurate number.*

Regardless of budget constraints, you don't always need a realtor to apply for a rental unit. If you don't mind looking and emailing around you can find a home to rent through searchable outlets like the ones below:

Apartments.com
Realtor.com
Zillow.com
Hotpads.com
If you are in need of rental assistance, check out our Local Resources page.

Because you are using searched websites, you will be able to find apartment complex listings or private owner listings that may not be listed through a realtors channels. Occasionally, these listing types do not use a realtor to list therefore would not appear in the realtor system called the MLS (Multi Listings Service). Feel free to hire an agent and do some searching on your own as well. Your agent can still help you tour and apply for a rental that isn't listed in the MLS. You and your agent will have to speak with the owner about a commission for your agent.

Find Your Agent

A real estate agent is one of the tools you can use to streamline your rental search. All realtors have the ability to show a rental property, but only a select few choose to do so. Each real estate company will have a handful of rental agents. All you have to do is call into the office of choice and give them your details: name, phone, area of interest, price range, dates for moving, and anything else that may be of importance. Reception will get your information out to the right agent.

Create a Realistic Search & Tour

Once you have connected with your agent of choice you will start with your renting a home search. This can turn into the hardest part: narrowing down your search criteria to fit your needs. Wants and needs are two vary different things. Going into a home search of any type (rental or to buy) with unrealistic expectations will put a damper on the whole process, potentially sucking the fun right out of it. Discuss what you have to have in a rental and what you would like. Tell your agent what you won't tolerate. Being precise will speed up your search to things you can afford or actually want.

Touring

When touring a home to rent you must arrive on time. If the owner still has personal belongings in the home please don't touch them or take them. If you have comments about the property, wait until you are back outside of the home with you agent to discuss any shortcomings the home may have in your eyes. This is more of a courtesy to the lessor.

Another aspect of touring homes for rent is scheduling multiple ones in a day. If this is the route you and your agent take, please make sure your schedule can accommodate hours on the road. If all the homes are near one another then maybe hours is an overstatement, but if they are not, then make sure you have the time as well to do what you have asked your agent to do.

Getting Your Terms Straight

You have found your perfect rental! Congrats! Now it is time to sit down and fill out the application. ERA Liberty Realty uses a program called RentSpree to handle the application process. This program provides a universal application and payment system all in one. Owners can require a background check on potential tenants, RentSpree will gather the payment (which the applicant pays) and preforms the background check. A copy is emailed to the listing agent. If the rental you are applying for does not use RentSpree as their application system, then they will have their own form of application. Your agent will contact the listing agent and get the paperwork. A check will be written for the background check.

Your application has been accepted and you are now moving on to terms and conditions with the owner, their agent (if applicable), and your agent. Depending on what you want out of the rental and what the owner will allow the negotiation period could take a few days. If nothing else, it could take a few days to wrangle all signatures and initials needed. If you meet with the owner in person, you have the opportunity to go over the lease paragraph by paragraph. This is your time to ask questions, finalize where payments will be sent, and any other clause you may want clarification on. If you don't meet with them in person, your agent can forward any questions you have to the owner or agent.

Some typical terms you may see on a rental lease are:

Tenant pays for their own internet
Trash may be included in the rent amount
Tenant pays for water
Tenant pays for electric
No animals (or animals on a case by case basis)
Assigned parking
You can paint the walls (but return them to a neutral color when you move out)
12 - 24 month lease periods
A check has to be written to the listing company if they are managing the rental
Rent is due by the 5th of each month. A late fee will be added if not paid by the 5th

It is unusual for a single family home (even a townhouse) rental to have trash, water, and electric all included in the rent amount. That is more standard for a rental complex.

Sign The Lease

Once the lease is ratified (signed by everyone involved) the rental is yours! You will have to pay the first months rent and a security deposit prior to moving in. The security deposit is usually the monthly rental payment. If you own animals, the lessor may require a pet deposit as well as a security deposit.The animals will have been discussed in the negotiating period along with the pet deposit (if applicable). Animals can be destructive and the lessor is just covering their own bases with the extra fee. The pet deposit may not be refundable when you move out. But, by keeping the rental tidy and in good shape, upon your moving out, the security deposit will be given back to you. Its purpose is to cover any damages you, your animals, or anyone else living in the home may cause during the rental period.

Congratulations! You are officially renting a home!

Rental Owner Searching for a Tenant

Should You Lease or Sell? Will You Manage Your Rental? Get The Home Ready Tenant Selection Everyone Signs = Property Rented!

Should You Lease or Sell?

The first question you should ask yourself prior to signing paperwork is "should I lease out my home?" Is your property at an age where renting it out still makes sense? Do you want a steady monthly income? However, would a lump sum of sale cash suite your needs better? All are great questions. Your current living situation should be the deciding factor. Once you have decided to create a rental listing it's time to ask the next important question: will you manage the rental or hire someone else to do it?

In the state of West Virginia, taxes are higher on rental properties. If you choose to sell it after a few years, that tax rate will stick to the property even after it's sold. Undoubtedly, it will only follow the prior rental property for one tax year. Then it will return to the standard residential tax rate. This fact remains for potential tenants looking to purchase the home they are renting.

Property Tax Classifications & Tax Rates

Will You Manage Your Rental?

You are creating a rental listing! Great! Now, ask yourself will you be the one managing it? Managing a property isn't a part time job. YOU are the acting landlord/owner and will be responsible for the building, the tenants, and the grounds. Managing the property means you also become the main point of contact for the tenant. If the tenant is in need of something they will reach out to you. You will be responsible if they breach contract and action must be taken.

The difference in having a real estate agency or rental management company take the reigns is the point of contact shifts. Instead of the tenant speaking with you, the information will get relayed to you via realtor/property manager. This could be handy if you don't have the time to manage the rental on your own, lack the experience of the title, or live out of state. You are still responsible for paying for fixes and making decisions.

Lastly, you will begin signing a rental listing agreement and accompanying documentation with the agent. Even if they are not going to be managing the rental, they are still listing the home for rent. In the listing agreement, you will be presented with questions about Coming Soon display options, listing expiration, rental price, specific company documents (these could change depending on the company), and more.

*If you are using a management company they will take a percentage of the monthly rent as their management fee. The management company cuts a check to the rental property owner once they have taken their management fee from that months collected rent.

Get The Home Ready

With the agent selected and the management decision made, you still must get the home ready. You will still want to pick and choose what you do to the property much like you would with a sale. If you kitchen flooring is curling up, then put down new. If you have a bunch of light bulbs out, replace them. You want the home just as livable for a renter as it is currently for you.

When you are thinking about what should be updated or replaced prior to listing the rental, you should think of what may happen to the rental as time passes. If you are allowing your tenant to paint, then maybe not paint the unit. Are you going to allow them animals? If the answer is yes, then opt not to replace all the carpet in the home with something super plush. Maybe try for a different material entirely? Keep your own budget in mind when getting a unit up to snuff to list.

In the end, it is up to the owner and the agent to come up with a winning strategy to get the space ready to be rented.

Tenant Selection

After you have done all that you can to ready the rental space, it is now time to put the listing out on the open market. The ERA Liberty Realty website does not show rental properties. However, the MLS (Multi Listing Service) does. This service is the go-to listing finder for real estate professionals. Once a listing has been added the MLS sends out that information to third party websites. These sites include Realtor.com, apartments.com, Zillow, and others of the like. This is where you will find the bulk of your potential tenants. Agents can bring the tenant via MLS listing. Additionally, renters looking on their own can find the property on a third party site.

Unlike a standard home for sale listing, having an open house is not common for rentals as they usually don't stay on the market long.
The commission is considerably lower for a rental as well. Agent's bringing a tenant usually get a couple hundred bucks for their efforts.
Ideally, you want the tenant income to be 2x the rent amount. (this a just a rule of thumb and can vary from person to person)

Each office has their own rental application that can be sent to potential renting clients. For ERA Liberty, we use a program through MLS called RentSpree. RentSpree is an online application that collects all the applicants important information such as credit report info, past and current renting a home details, determines the legitimacy of the applicant in real time, and sends a detailed report. RentSpree can also collect the background check fee right from the program.

Once the RentSpree applications have been checked you must decide on a qualified tenant. You and your agent will sit down and discuss all applications that came in and choose the best fit. Rentals are always in high demand, so if the first batch yields no suitable tenants, then try again. You are searching for a good tenant not a just okay one. You are looking for potential renting longevity and someone who can afford your unit comfortably.

Everyone Signs = Property Rented!

Next, you offer the rental to the applicant. If they accept, then you get started filling out a rental lease. The lease will cover the basics: the monthly rent, where payments are sent and the type allowed, quiet hours (if applicable), how many long-term guests are allowed at the home and for how long, tenant responsibilities such as water/trash/electric payments, and other details.

Agents have the ability to create electronic documents and then send them out for initials and signatures. This can be done completely online for convenience and to speed up the process. If you are not comfortable with digital documents, then pen and paper will be used no problem.

Now you can sit back and relax! Your unit has been rented, your have hired a managing company to do the heavy lifting, and you are off to your next project!

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