If you are in the process of buying a house and have decided to keep your current home as a rental property, one of the top goals you should have is finding a good tenant for this house. If you are not sure how to do this, you could talk to your real estate agent about it. A lot of real estate agents offer assistance to people who rent out their houses, and here are a few things to understand about hiring your agent to help you with this task.

Agents Typically Have Large Networks

The first thing you should know is that most real estate agents have large networks, and the benefit of this is that they are often able to find people who are looking for rental properties. When a person needs a place to rent, he or she could call around to property management firms in search of a property, or the person could contact a real estate agent for help. This means that your agent might already know of people who are looking for a home to rent. If your agent does not have anyone in mind right now, the agent could ask around or start looking for someone.

Agents Sometimes Offer Management Services Too

When an agent helps a person find a tenant for a house, the agent may charge a flat fee for the services, and this is often called a finder's fee. If this is all you need the agent to do, you will only have to pay this one-time fee, but you might also be interested in hiring the agent to manage the property for you. If so, your agent might agree to do this for you in exchange for a percentage of the monthly rental amount. This percentage might be 10 percent of the rental amount per month, or it could be more or less. Hiring the agent to manage the property would make renting out your house a lot easier and less stressful for you, as the agent would take over all the duties of being the landlord.

You Could Rent Your House for Short-Term Rentals Only

One other thing to understand is that there are always people looking for short-term rentals to live in while they are in-between homes. If this is the case, you could rent your house to people who have this need, and you could limit your house to only short-term rentals. People will typically pay a higher amount per month for short-term rentals; however, there may be people moving in and out a lot more often.

If you have a house that you would like to rent out, you should begin the process by talking to a real estate agent. This is one of the easiest ways to find a tenant for your house, and you can learn more by contacting a real estate agency in your city.