How to become a landlord - or get a landlord license

If you are interested in renting a room in your house, or renting an entire property that you have acquired, consider this your basic guide for becoming a landlord. There is a lot that you need to know when renting a property that I can not possibly cover fully in this article, but the purpose of this article is to provide you with a basic checklist to help get you started renting. Just read along, follow my steps, and be sure to also follow up with your city housing and inspection offices for additional details and requirements.

So you have decided to become a landlord and start renting your property. There are many reasons that people want to start renting their property. These reasons generally include moving to a new home, purchasing an investment property, getting help to pay for the mortgage on the home they live in now, or trying to break into commercial property management. Regardless of your reasons, here are the basic steps to follow.

GET A RENTAL LICENSE: Before even looking into rental agreements, pricing, and stuff like that, you need to get your home qualified to become a rental unit, and you need a rental license from the city you live in. There are a lot of strict city ordinances, rules, and regulations about rental property, so you need to get acquainted with these rules and regulations for the area you live in. Go down to your local city building and ask to talk to the Housing / Development / Ordinance office. Cities have different names for these offices, but if you try one of these, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Once at the office, let them know that you are interested in renting your property. Let them know that you would like to learn about the rental inspection process and licensing and costs associated with doing this.

It is also helpful to ask them if they can give you a landlord/tenant rules and regulations pamphlet. They may not have this on hand, and you may have to go to the city courthouse to get this. This is very important to read as it highlights all of the most common laws for the city you live in regarding landlords and tenants. I highly recommend that you get this and read through it entirely!

The process for becoming an approved rental property owner is actually pretty easy, but time consuming. You will have to be patient and work with the city every step of the way to ensure a smooth process. The first step you need to take is to schedule and pay for a home inspection conducted by the city ordinance officer. They will give you a date and time that they are available to come out to your property. It is important that you meet the ordinance officer at your home on the date that you have scheduled. Try to be there early, and do not waste the city ordinance officers time. They are very busy. Also avoid having to reschedule these appointments.

On the day of your home inspection, try to be there at least 15 minutes earlier than the city inspector. They will come out to your home, take a look at your property for any code violations, concerns, or problems that you need to correct and they will create a list for you to review. First time inspections can take anywhere from a hour to a hour and thirty minutes. Plan for the inspection to last at least an hour, and do not rush the inspector once they get to your property. I would also recommend that you walk with the inspector, but let them do their job, and only answer questions when asked. Avoid additional small talk.

The inspector will go back to their office and write up a formal list of violations that you need to correct in order to bring your property up to code and get it approved as a rental unit. They will also provide you a due date to get the violations changed.

Once you get this letter, read over each item, and get the items they request taken care of. Call the city housing office back and ask them any questions about the violations you have or advice for fixing the issues should you need it. You will also need to reschedule an appointment for the ordinance officer to come out and check the violations he listed. You generally do not have to pay for the follow up inspections, but you should ask to be sure. The city will also give you enough time to get the violations finished, but if you need more time, just ask to push the re-inspection date back a little.

Plumbing, electrical, and gas/furnace issues should be handled by professional, licensed, and certified contractors. Call these folks, if needed, and let them know that you need them to have them check out/repair certain items for a rental inspection. Ask them for receipts and even signed comments to give to the inspector upon completion of their work.

Once you have completed fixing all of the violations on the list that the city ordinance officer provided you, wait for the next appointment date that you set up

The officer will then back come out to your home and check to see if everything passes. If it does, then you can go to the city office or court house and purchase a landlord license with the city. If you fail the inspection, you can work with the city to reschedule an inspection again. You will have to pay for this new inspection.

Once you purchase your landlord license, you can safely rent your property knowing that it has been approved by the city. Now all you need to do is get a great set of rental application and lease documents, and start looking for tenants! I would also recommend that you also go to the city court house and ask them what the process is for evicting tenants - because every landlord has to deal with that eventually.