First-Time Landlord: Your Guide to Renting out a Single-Family Home
By Janet Portman, Ilona Bray and Marcia Stewart
4/5
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Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Do you own a house you’d like to rent out rather than sell? It’s a common scenario in today’s market, especially if you’ve inherited a house, are moving to another home, or are buying an investment property. And it may mean you’re about to be a first-time landlord. Follow the advice in this book to ease into your new role and earn substantial profits while avoiding costly mistakes.
- Learn your legal obligations.
- Estimate costs and profits.
- Choose good tenants and avoid problem ones.
- Make the most of valuable tax deductions.
- Handle repairs and property management tasks.
The 5th edition is updated to cover major legal changes, in particular how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created pass-through deductions that can benefit landlords. Includes sample forms and budget worksheets.
Janet Portman
Nolo's Executive Editor, Janet Portman oversees editorial work on all Nolo books, articles, and websites. She specializes in residential and commercial landlord/tenant law, legal issues related to courts, and criminal law. She is the author or a coauthor of Every Landlord's Legal Guide, Every Landlord's Guide to Finding Great Tenants, First-Time Landlord: Your Guide to Renting Out a Single-Family Home, Every Tenant's Legal Guide, Renters' Rights, Leases & Rental Agreements, The California Landlord's Law Book: Rights and Responsibilities, and California Tenants' Rights. Portman received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University and a law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law. Before joining Nolo in 1994, she practiced law as a public defender.
Read more from Janet Portman
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Reviews for First-Time Landlord
20 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Early Reviewer here:I was so excited to see this book pop up on the list. I'm saving up to purchase a rental property in a few years and this is both motivational and informative.The info in the USA TODAY-inspired graphs is older, but the content of the text is up to date, complete with foreclosure-buying info updated to include the legal blow-back from the banks' use of robo-filers. There is also good info here for after the purchase, on things such as choosing a tenant and how to protect yourself from the Tenant from Hell types (like the gentleman in one example who went from Tenant from Heaven to crackhead - and this was in a property near the landlord's own home). While individual markets and such will probably make further research advisable, I would recommend this for anyone who wants to turn rent day from pain day to pay day. This is especially helpful if you also take in some podcasts on the topic, such as those on the Jason Hartman 'Creating Wealth' site.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Nolo press book is a pretty fair introduction to the issues a prospective landlord needs to consider when renting out a single family home. You should probably consider this an overview and introductory book. Still, it is more than 300 pages of pretty good advice and coverage of the topic. As usual, Nolo would be happy to have you purchase other books that cover aspects of landlordery more in depth. This technique of recommending their other related books seems to rankle some people, but I'm not one. In any case, this would be the book to purchase first, and if it serves your purposes, fine. If you do need more "book learning" help about taxes, property protection, finding tenants, etc., then consider more specific works. And Nolo is NOT the only press that covers this subject area.And if you're really clueless, you should probably hire somebody competent in the field (e.g., a real estate lawyer). This book would still be a good purchase since in dealing with a lawyer (or other rental professional) you'll have a good overview of the issues.All in all a good book, highly recommended for any public library's reference collection.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a good basic book on renting a single-family home. It is well-organized, with references to more specialized books and online resources. It would be handy for anyone who is thinking of purchasing a home to rent, or who has a home that they want/need to rent. The sub-title is a bit misleading. Many of the examples and equations provided have more to do with multi-unit properties. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but as an investore dealing in single-family homes, I know that I deal with quite different issues than an apartment owner. If the book really specialized in the single-family home market, it might be better to stick with examples in that market, or highlight multi-family investment properties as a contrast. Throughout the book, there are "USA Today Snapshots." I would have expected them to have some relationship to the text. Sometimes they do. In a section on pets, there is a graphic about pet owners. More often, they don't; they seem to be thrown in at random. In a section on relationships with investment partners, there's a graphic about spouses who lie about finances. In a section on financing, there's a graphic about joining a business association. Such slap-dash choices suggest that the editors made a decision that a certain percentage of the page had to be graphics, and then the layout artist filled in the spots with whatever was available. I'm going to keep the book around as a reference work. It looks like a useful tool for a small-time investor.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A handy reference guide; this is a well-organized book with great tips and examples.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A good basic book, I would recommend it as a starting place for those thinking of becoming landlords. that said, it doesn't cover everything so it is wise to make sure you know the rules/laws of your state/locale. But for general knowledge and a checklist of things to look into this is great.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First-Time Landlord follows the quality that I have come to expect from Nolo. It covers how to get started, manage, and quit being a landlord. It also covers renting out a room in your home. I especially liked the chapter on what to include in your rental agreement.