Whether you’re fulfilling a life-long dream of traveling the globe or relocating for a year or two due to work, living abroad can be a very enriching experience. You get to learn about new cultures, learn new languages, and see places that other people might only ever dream of seeing up close.

Yes, traveling for either work or pleasure can be a wonderful thing to experience, but if you love your home and want to come back to it one day, renting it out is a good idea. If this is something that you have been thinking about doing before you head off on your travels, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Safety Checks

If you are going to rent your house out then you need to make sure that it meets the correct safety regulations that landlords have to follow. You must have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors throughout the property, working electrics and plumbing, secure weatherproofing of your building to avoid leaks and draughts, and so on.

You will also need to make sure your home is secure from being broken into, so you will need to have quality locks and a security system in place before leasing to anyone.

Contracts

Even if you’re renting your property to a close friend or relative while you’re away, it’s still smart to have a lease agreement created for everyone’s peace of mind. This way there is no room for confusion when it comes to each person’s responsibility and your expectations from your tenants and vice-versa.

You can hire a lawyer to draw up a contract for you to make sure it’s legally binding and all the points that should be included in this agreement (including the price of rent) are in there.

Storage

You might be happy to leave some of your furniture in your property for your tenants to use, but if there is anything that you want to take out of your home to keep safe, then you will need to find adequate storage space for these items.

You might be able to keep them in the basement at a friend or relative's house, but if there are a lot of belongings you want to keep protected or you don’t want to put that responsibility onto your loved ones, renting a storage unit is the better option.

These units tend to be very affordable with flexible contracts, so finding one to fit your budget should be easy. You can search for storage units near you with Storage Area and other similar websites.

Use a Letting Agency

A letting agency will take a cut of your tenant's rent as commission, but it could be worthwhile if you’re not going to be in the country.

This is because if your tenants do have a problem with your property while you’re away on your travels, they can call the letting agency who will resolve the issue, rather than you trying to do this while you’re on the other side of the world.

Alternatively, you might want to ask or pay a close friend to deal with these problems for you if you would prefer and give them the number of tradesmen you trust to fix these issues properly.

If you’re planning to go traveling for an extended time and would like to rent your home out until you return, remember these top tips to make sure you’re getting the most out of this experience and that your tenants are kept happy.

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