{"id":8880,"date":"2025-05-06T15:29:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/?p=8880"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:33:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:33:32","slug":"renting-to-relatives-what-every-landlord-needs-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/2025\/05\/06\/renting-to-relatives-what-every-landlord-needs-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Renting to Relatives: What Every Landlord Needs To Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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As\u00a0<\/span>professional property managers, we don\u2019t like the idea of renting to relatives. In our experience, it can get messy quickly. Feelings can get hurt and emotions can flare. This is not a great outcome in what\u2019s supposed to be a rental property business.\u00a0<\/p>

We don\u2019t like it, but we\u2019re also realists. We know it happens.\u00a0<\/p>

If you\u2019re going to allow a family member or a friend to move into your rental property, make sure you\u2019re working with an experienced Southwest Washington property management company. <\/span>Professional management\u00a0is always a benefit to landlords, but in a situation where you\u2019re the landlord and a family member is a tenant, that objective third party is absolutely essential.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

You\u2019ll need a buffer between you and your tenant, and you\u2019ll want to make sure you\u2019re leaving behind any emotional baggage that may linger in your relationship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Here\u2019s what you need to know when Uncle Bob or Cousin Jane is moving into your rental property.\u00a0<\/p>

Charging Adequate Rent<\/h4>

Rents are pretty high right now. Are you comfortable charging your relatives what your property is worth?\u00a0<\/p>

You need to be, because keeping your rental value artificially low will cost you a lot of money. You want to be kind, but if you give your relatives too good of a deal, you\u2019ll be left earning rents that are far below the market. They\u2019ll never move because your rents will be lower than what they could find anywhere else.<\/p>

It\u2019s not just about sacrificing what you earn.\u00a0<\/p>

The other danger in charging below-market rents is that you can lose some of the valuable tax deductions that come with owning rental property. Consult your tax advisor because too much of a rental discount would classify your property as being used for personal reasons and not as an investment. This could have a dramatic effect on what you\u2019re able to deduct at tax time.\u00a0<\/p>

Screening Your Tenants and Accessing Personal Information\u00a0<\/h4>

Does your family member want you to have access to their credit score, employment information, and social security number?\u00a0<\/p>

You\u2019ll need all of that when you screen your tenants.\u00a0<\/p>

You might not think there\u2019s any need to screen your family members. But what if they\u2019re bankrupt? What if they\u2019ve been evicted from three rental homes in the last two years?\u00a0<\/p>

These are things you need to know before you hand over the keys to your valuable investment.\u00a0<\/p>

Make sure you\u2019re comfortable collecting personal and financial information about your family members? If this feels too overwhelming, contact a <\/span>property manager.\u00a0<\/p>

Establishing and Enforcing a Lease Agreement in Merced<\/h4><\/div>
A lot of landlords who rent their homes out to relatives don\u2019t bother putting together a lease agreement.\u00a0<\/div>

This is a big mistake.\u00a0<\/p>

You need to have a lease agreement in place, no matter who you\u2019re renting to. Even if it\u2019s someone you\u2019ve known your whole life, a lease is necessary. It protects you and your tenant, and it also protects your property.\u00a0<\/p>

\"Lease<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Without a legally enforceable lease agreement, you can\u2019t evict your tenants when you need to take the property back. You\u2019ll have a hard time proving that they owe you anything at all if they\u00a0<\/span>stop paying rent.<\/p>

Helping relatives is a generous thing. However, when you\u2019re renting out a property, you need to put protections into place that allow you to continue earning what you need on your property. If you\u2019d like some help managing a situation like this, please contact us at SunWorld Group.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s understandable. With the online rental sites and social media platforms available, it\u2019s easier than ever to market and advertise a rental home. But, it\u2019s also crowded. Tenants are scrolling through listing after listing, and it can be difficult to stand out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[9,12,13],"class_list":["post-8880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-houses","category-property","tag-architecture","tag-design","tag-interior"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8880"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8886,"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8880\/revisions\/8886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myaiostagingweb.com\/sunworldgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}