Review your first month

Fictional practice: Run the rental legally, and compare real results with your estimates.

• What-if: closing is done, repairs and required approvals are finished, and the right insurance is in place.
• In a month with a tenant, you collect $2,300. You pay or set aside $759 for running costs.
• Loan payment at the $260,000 price (75% loan, $195,000 at 7%): $1,297.34. Into the replacement reserve: $125. The home wasn’t empty this month.

Confirm landlord-tenant rules, tenant screening, notices, deposits, rent limits and local registration. Federal fair housing law has rules on who it covers, with some exceptions. State and local laws can add more protections.