The Rental-Ready Checklist: What Homeowners Should Fix, Upgrade, and Calculate Before Renting Out Their Home

Turning your home into a rental property can sound like a smart move, especially if you are moving out but not ready to sell. Maybe you locked in a low mortgage rate a few years ago. Maybe your local market still has strong rental demand. Or maybe you believe the home will continue appreciating and want to hold onto it while generating monthly income. All of those can be valid reasons to rent instead of sell. But before you hand the keys to a tenant, you need to answer a bigger question: Is the property truly rental-ready? That means more than cleaning the house, repainting a few walls, and taking listing photos. A rental-ready property should be physically prepared, financially realistic, legally compliant, and aligned with what renters in the local market actually want. We asked Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin, how homeowners should think about the broader decision to rent out instead of sell. Her advice was clear: start with the tradeoff. “The first thing to consider is what you’re giving up by renting instead of selling,” Fairweather said. “Selling gives you access to your equity right away, while renting means keeping that money tied up in the home in exchange for...