You'll need to invest a decent sum of money to get the house in shape to rent, and over the years you'll be responsible for keeping it in good repair. Spend some time thinking through the various costs you'll incur and make sure you're able to handle them before you consider renting your home.  Calculate the up-front costs of getting the house up to code and installing any updates you think it needs. New carpeting, paint, appliances, and so on should be factored in. Calculate the costs of keeping the house in good working order when tenants move in. Calculate how much plumbing repairs, landscaping costs, and general upkeep is going to cost. Think ahead to expensive problems you might encounter. At some point you might need to buy a new refrigerator or oven, replace the roof, replace carpeting, and so on. Decide whether you'll be able to handle a few months of missed rent, which most landlords encounter from time to time. Being a landlord can be pretty time intensive. You'll need to screen tenants, negotiate a rent price, facilitate a lease signing, collect rent, do home repairs, and be the point person whenever problems arise. If you want to rent your house but don't want all the responsibilities, hire a property manager to take care of all the nitty gritty parts of the job for you.  Property managers usually charge 50% of the first month's rent when new tenants move in, and 10% of each month's rent after that, so you'll need to figure out if you can afford one.  You can also hire out some of the duties individually. For example, if you're comfortable screening tenants and handling leases, but you don't want to have to make plumbing repairs when the toilet breaks or mow the lawn, you can hire contractors to do these jobs for you. Factoring in the cost of your mortgage, the cost of keeping the house in shape and other foreseeable expenses, and the property manager's fee (if you're using one), figure out how much rent you'll need to charge to at least break even. Then conduct some market research to find out how much tenants will be willing to pay to rent your house. If you'll be able to make a decent profit, you're in good shape.  Check sites like Craigslist.org to determine what people are paying for houses of similar size in your neighborhood. The rent you charge should be in the same ballpark. Call other landlords, posing as a tenant, and ask questions about their properties to compare them to your own. You'll be able to find out what sorts of features might affect how much rent you can charge. Start thinking of your rental house as a small business. It's a good idea to keep rental-related finances separate from your personal finances. Use Quickbooks or another financial management system to record your expenses and keep track of payments.  If you don't want to invest in financial management software, set up a spreadsheet to track your expenses and payments. Consider opening a bank account that you'll use for the sole purpose of managing rental finances. . You can start by downloading a free lease agreement online or buying one from USLegalforms.com Make sure the lease you choose meets the requirements of the state where you live. Working from a standard lease is a good way to make sure your lease contains all the necessary information. From there, you can customize it to fit your needs. Have a lawyer look it over to make sure it's airtight and legal. The lease should cover these bases:  The full names of the tenants. The address of your rental home. The length of the lease, whether it's a year, month-to-month, or something in between. A year lease helps reduce turnover, while a month-to-month lease gives you greater flexibility. The amount of rent you're charging, as well as the security deposit amount. A description of what the penalty will be when rent is late. A description of the condition of the house at the time when tenants move in. Individual requirements regarding utilities, trash, smoking, pets, altering the house, and so on. Every state has landlord/tenant laws that dictate what rights landlords and tenants each hold. The laws address safety issues in the rental, who is responsible for paying for what, what happens when tenants fail to pay rent on time, and what circumstances give you the right to evict a tenant. Look up your state's laws on the matter and make sure you're comfortable following policies that apply to you.  Many states tend to favor tenants over landlords when it comes to disputes. In some cases it can be very difficult to evict a tenant, even when the tenant fails to pay rent. Get familiar with the steps you'd have to take if a problematic situation were to arise. Make sure you know what responsibilities you have in terms of paying for utilities, garbage, and other bills.
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One-sentence summary -- Figure out how much it will cost you to keep your house safe and livable. Decide whether to hire a property manager. Calculate the rent you want to charge. Set up a system for managing your finances.  Decide on the terms of your lease agreement Follow the laws in your state.


To make the red ladybug wings really stand out, you'll want to find a comfortable black shirt with black pants or get out a long-sleeve black leotard with leggings.  You could choose a red or black dress instead of the leotard or shirt. Feel free to swap out red clothing for any of the black pieces. You could even cut red fabric circles to glue onto the black clothes. Little kids love the feeling of twirling around with a bunch of tulle. Buy or make a red tutu that you can tie around your toddler's waist. You can leave the tutu solid red or glue black fabric circles to the tutu so they look like spots. Buy a simple red eye mask and glue small black dots made of foam over the mask. These will look like ladybug spots. If you're short on time, draw the black dots using a permanent black marker.
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One-sentence summary --
Pick a black shirt and pants. Add a tutu to make a toddler ladybug costume. Wear an eye mask covered in spots.