3 Tips For Renting Out Your Home This Summer

With summer quickly approaching, many people are ready to start renting out their vacation homes. This can be a great way to make some money on the side as well as help out people looking for a great place to spend their summer months. However, if you're considering renting out your home for the summer - whether you want to rent out your regular home so you can vacation somewhere else or you want to rent your summer house - there are several factors you need to consider before embarking on your plan.

Since you're most likely renting to complete strangers, you need to ensure you take the right safety precautions to guarantee your guests leave your home as you left it.

Here are three tips for renting out your home this summer:

1. Store away valuables

Don't leave any items or objects out that you don't want broken or missing. While the vast majority of renters are nice and respectable individuals, people do make mistakes from time to time. Store away any family heirlooms, valuable objects or irreplaceable knick knacks so that they do not break or get stolen.

2. Screen the renters

You're not in the hotel business where people can show up and check in to a room unannounced. Take time to find out as much information about your likely tenants. If possible, exchange emails or phone numbers and do a bit of subtle sleuthing with targeted questions, such as what they do for a living or how often they rent out houses. Even striking up a casual conversation can reveal a lot of information about the potential renters.

3. Set clear deposit-forfeiture standards

Immediately inform the tenants in clear language what will cause them to forfeit their deposits. Whether it's smoking in the home, having guests over or something more house-specific, let the renters know where you draw the line. This ensures that if a tenant does break your rules, he or she knows in no uncertain terms that they will lose their deposit.

CoverHound provides renters insurance from its easy-to-use website.