With Dallas TX real estate sales slowing a bit for the summer, many sellers are left wondering if they may be better off renting their home out for the time being until market activity picks back up. If you have already purchased another home, this option is especially attractive as it allows you to cut down on the expense of paying two mortgages while you wait for your home to sell.

Below are some items to think about, courtesy of BankRate.com, before deciding to become a landlord:

• Mortgage payments must be made regardless of if the property is inhabited.
• Costly repairs and maintenance work cannot be delayed if they inconvenience the tenant.
• Disputes with tenants could require legal representation and legal fees.
• There are many costs involved in renting a home – it is recommended that landlords budget 25-30% of the rent to be used for maintenance, repairs, or emergency. This should be a key factor when deciding how much rent to charge in order to break even.

In addition to extra tax advantages (on top of the regular deductions of mortgage interest and taxes), renting out your property might also allow you to continue to build equity in your old home at the expense of the renter. You might even be able to make a profit from the rent, if your expenses are low enough!

If you are interested in buying or selling Dallas real estate, please call me at 800-326-9011. Request a complimentary market analysis of your home!

If your Dallas home has been on the market for a while and you are having trouble selling it, you may want to consider a lease-to-own option. Lease-to-own can help sell your Dallas home during a slow housing market or when you need a little more money than the market will support. This is a good option for a few areas in Dallas Fort Worth where you are competing with new construction.

In short, here’s how a lease-to-own agreement works:

• First, a home seller agrees to lease their home to an interested home buyer for an agreed upon period of time, usually one year but can be as long as three years. At the end of the lease period, the buyer has the option to purchase the home at the preset selling price.
• A small portion of the rent payment received during the lease period is usually counted toward the down payment on the home. In order to cover that down payment, the home seller would charge a monthly premium of a few hundred dollars compared to comparable rentals (e.g., if a comparable property rents for $1,100 per month, you would set the monthly lease payment at $1,300).
• Many home owners also charge an option fee for taking the property off the market, typically 1% to 2% of the sales price. This can be applied toward the down payment as well.

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