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[quote=Anonymous]DH and I did this with our "starter" home. The agent who helped us buy our bigger house was great and found us renters and put together a lease and basically got all the infrastructure in place for us (business license etc). Then for subsequent rentals we did it ourselves, and sold within the period to avoid capital gains. Here's what I learned:
- Agents earn their money finding you qualified renters. It is a lot of work.
- If you decide to find tenants on your own, set up a couple of open houses for people to come and see the place. If someone requests a time outside the open house, ask for a quick call before setting up a time so that you can answer any questions they have. I was so PISSED by the number of people who asked for special viewings and then haggled with me on the rent, length of lease, said they were still trying to find a roommate, etc. 
- We had some really good tenants who were kind and respectful (and loved flushing tampons down the toilet)
- We had a tenant who acted like we were put on this earth to serve and everything was an emergency (none of it was)
- We ended up setting up a service agreement with a plumbing/ HVAC company so that anytime something came up, they'd do immediate service 24/7. It eventually paid for itself and ensured that any of the (minor) issues that came up were resolved immediately.

In DC you can collect a non refundable fee for pets (as I recall, it can't be a refundable deposit). Definitely do it. [/quote]

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