The Realities of Being a Landlord
Perhaps you are thinking of renting your home out rather than selling it to create in income stream, or to be able to return to it later. It is important to understand what this involves, and to be realistic when deciding whether this is the right thing for you to do. First ask yourself three basic questions:

1. Are you free of emotional attachment to the property?
2. Are you prepared to deal with tenant demands?
3. Have you carefully weighed the costs versus the benefits?

Unless you can honestly answer "Yes" to all three of these questions, then you should not lease a property out. Let me explain point-by-point.

Emotional Attachment
It can be heartbreaking to watch your former home being subject to the insults of a renter. Renters do not love the homes they rent, and are, for the most part, hard on a property. Even if you pay the water bills, they are unlikely to take decent care of the lawn and other plants. They have no vested interest in the property, and conditions that should be repaired to avoid further damage often ignored. Experienced landlords relate horror stories about seemingly good renters who caused huge amounts of damage without ever intending to, and bad renters who virtually destroyed their properties.

Dealing with Tenant Demands
Fairly or unfairly, tenants expect immediate responses to their demands for service. Unless you are willing to pay a property management company 10% of your monthly rent, be prepared to be called upon any time of the night or day to deal with a clogged toilet, broken heater/AC, faulty light switch, or any number of major and minor problems which arise. Dealing with these problems often places serious demands on personal time and family relationships.

Evaluating the Costs vs. the Benefits
Start by finding out what homes like yours are renting for - the actual rental, not the asking price. Be brutally honest with yourself when making this evaluation. Subtract your mortgage payments, tax bill (which will likely increase), additional insurance costs, market make-ready, ongoing maintenance, between-tenant maintenance, marketing costs, and management costs. Be sure to budget for major systems repairs and damage, intentional or otherwise. Consider the cost to you and your family in time and attention devoted to the responsibilities of being a Landlord. Keep in mind that your profits are taxable, and you will need to educate yourself on all the tax and legal issues involved, or pay someone else to manage and explain them to you.

The Bottom Line
Being a Landlord is not a hobby, it is a part-time job with irregular hours. The cost-income spread has got to be considerable to overcome the expenses of owning and managing a property, most of which are ongoing regardless of whether the property is rented.