link to our kitchen remodel album

[glenn kangiser]

Distant renting is a problem but maybe that could work if nothing else does.  Possibly a friend or an agent could help but if an agent watch their contracts -- they can take your place - hire repairs and charge you more than you get - hire buddies -- get kickbacks etc.  A bad one is worse than nothing.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I've thought about that...  we tried renting our Oklahoma house out while we were in WI at first because we figured it would be easier than selling because of the location.  Problem was, the only renters we attracted there were meth heads that would have destroyed the house.  Because of the location in WI, my thought is that we'd get families who want to come party there on the weekends (it's on a lake) as a summer house, which may/may not be a good rental situation.  It would all depend on the renter you got.  My hope is that it will just sell so I don't have to mess with it.  I put a LOT of work into that house and if I had to sit and watch someone slowly tear it up, it'd be depressing.  (Kind of like when the first thing the guy did who bought our old OK house was chop down the magnolia tree I'd given DH for Valentine's Day the first year we were married.)

[MountainDon]

The only way to rent out property when at a distance is to use a good agent, IMO. A good agent will screen applicants, get the rent on time, look after evictions if necessary, etc. etc. We use one here who is superb and worth the $50 a month per unit we pay her. Sure watch the contracts, like any contract. They are not all crooks. The agent we use here has an interest in the complex where our properties are so that helps.

We have also used an agent in Austin, TX for several years. No problems with him either.

I wouldn't even consider to look after a rental at a distance by myself. No way.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I don't even want to think about renting it out ourselves from this distance!  I've seen what has happened to some of my aunt and uncle's rentals, even from people they thought would be OK.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Finally!  I got a reply from our realtor in WI claiming that she hadn't gotten my last message where I'd asked her to reduce the price and hire someone to mow/trim up the yard and clean out the gutters before all the maple seeds start sprouting in them.  She claims she checked her spam box as well, but it wasn't in there... mysterious how my emails get to everyone but her...

Anyway, hopefully we can make some progress now. 

[Sassy]

Kitchen looks great!  I can see where it would make you smile when you went in.   Our house in the valley is mostly off-white but I use a lot of color with plants, furniture, knicknacks...  at the cabin there's a lot of wood so I have splashes of color... 

Renting can be frustrating.  One of our rentals in the valley has been a problem - not with taking care of the house - they treat it like it was their own - but getting the rent on time.  I've put a new roof on the rental as well as the house we still live in down there (I should qualify that, Glenn considers that MY house, he doesn't live in the valley anymore      Also had him paint both places in trade for the back rent - he worked with Glenn for awhile in trade, also...  he's a roofing contractor - charges a lot for his work, though - but, we've had the same renters for 9 yrs, the place is being kept up, got stuff done in trade... could have had meth dealers or whatever, lots of turnover & cleaning & fixing up the place between renters...  my sister & brother have both had really bad experiences with renters - my brother's house was really nice - when they got the last renters out, the fixtures were torn out, there were mattresses everywhere, they used the floor as the bathroom, they had to tear up all the carpet & flooring down to the cement slab & bleach the cement to get rid of the smell; they pulled a calendar off the wall the cockroaches skurried out between the pages!  yuk!  It was quite a mess.  My sister was left with the renter owing her several months of rent  & this was a co-worker!  So, you just never know.

Our other 2 renters always pay on time, but don't take real good care of the places but aren't tearing them down, either, so I guess it's ok.   An agent would be the best bet - but DO look at the contract really well - the agent we checked into - basically, it ended up they were not responsible for anything but could do whatever they felt necessary as far as repairs etc without contacting us 1st.  So, we decided to forget it - and they charged a % of the rent.  Seemed like it would be around $100 or $150 a month, not worth it...