The accidental landlord's first 90 days in Central Florida

Your first 90 days as an accidental landlord in Central Florida come down to six decisions, made in order: whether to rent at all, what has to change before a stranger lives in the house, what it rents for, how the lease and deposit are set up, who you let in, and what month one looks like. Get the sequence right and the house becomes an asset with a tenant in it by day 90. Get it backwards, by listing before you have priced it or collecting a deposit before you have a Florida account for it, and the costs show up for years. Here is the order that works.

Days 1 to 10: should you rent it or sell it?

Start with the numbers, not the sentiment. Orlando Regional REALTOR Association data as of October 8, 2026 put the September median sale price at $399,610, down from $402,319 a year earlier, with homes averaging 66 days on the market and inventory at 12,464 listings, over five months of supply. Selling into that market means a longer wait and a negotiated price. Renting means keeping the asset, the mortgage you locked in, and the appreciation, in exchange for the work described below.

The mortgage rate on your existing loan is the quiet factor. Freddie Mac's survey put the average 30-year fixed at 7.24% for the week of October 29, 2026, versus 6.17% a year earlier. If your rate is well under that, the loan itself is part of the return. Run both paths side by side in the rent vs. sell calculator before you do anything else, and read the 2026 rent-or-sell framework if you want the longer version.

Days 10 to 30: what has to change before a tenant moves in?

Four calls and one disclosure, before you list.

Call your insurer first. A homeowners policy is written for an owner-occupant; a tenant-occupied house needs a landlord policy, and the carrier needs to know the occupancy changed. Call your lender and ask whether the loan carries an occupancy requirement. Call the HOA for its leasing rules and approval process, if there is one. Then call the county property appraiser and ask how leasing the home affects your homestead exemption, so the tax bill does not surprise you next year.

The disclosure is new. Since October 1, 2025, F.S. 83.512 requires a landlord to give a separate written flood disclosure at or before signing any lease of one year or longer, stating whether the landlord knows of flooding that damaged the unit, has filed a flood insurance claim, or has received flood assistance. F.S. 83.51 also requires working smoke detectors at the start of a single-family or duplex tenancy and screens in reasonable condition. Set the house up for a tenant, not a buyer: a clean, neutral, functional home with every system tested.

The tax side is simpler than it sounds. IRS Topic 414 says rental income and expenses are generally reported on Schedule E, and the home itself is depreciated from the day it is placed in service, which usually means the day it is listed and ready. Keep every receipt from day one.

Days 30 to 45: how do you set the rent?

The two mistakes are pricing from what you need and pricing from a neighbor's listing. Price from closed leases on comparable homes, then check against the published indexes. Apartments.com's October 2026 Orlando data put the average three-bedroom house at $2,419 a month. Zillow's Observed Rent Index through July 2026 put typical asking rent at $1,950 in Orange County, $1,893 in Seminole, $2,026 in Osceola and $2,062 in Lake, with year-over-year changes between 0.2% and 1.7%. Those are averages across all property types; a well-kept single-family home with a yard sits above them, a dated one below.

Overpricing costs more than underpricing. One empty month equals one twelfth of the year's rent, or 8.3%, before make-ready and marketing, and at $2,400 a month every vacant day costs about $80. A free rental analysis gives you a range from live comparables so you can list at a number that leases in weeks, not months.

Key point: An accidental landlord's biggest early loss is not a repair bill. It is the house sitting empty at a price the market has already answered.

Days 45 to 60: what does a lawful lease and deposit setup look like?

Use a Florida lease written by a Florida attorney, not a template. Then handle the deposit exactly as F.S. 83.49 requires. Under 83.49(1), deposit money is held in a separate Florida account, interest-bearing or not, or covered by a surety bond, and it is never mixed with your own funds. Under 83.49(2), landlords with five or more units must give written notice within 30 days of receipt naming the bank, stating whether interest is paid, and including the statutory disclosure in capital letters; smaller landlords are exempt, but giving the notice anyway costs nothing and prevents arguments later.

Two more sections shape the lease. F.S. 83.505 lets you and the tenant agree, in a signed addendum, to deliver notices by e-mail; without it, notices go the traditional way. F.S. 83.575 lets a fixed-term lease require 30 to 60 days' notice of non-renewal, but only if you must give the tenant the same notice. Sea Dog's security deposit checklist walks through the setup, and the deposit timeline post covers what happens when the tenant leaves.

Days 45 to 75: how should you screen the first applicant?

Write your criteria before the first inquiry and apply them to every applicant the same way. The common standard is gross income of at least three times the rent, which puts rent at about a third of income. Verify income with documents, run credit and background through a screening service, and call prior landlords. If any part of a consumer report leads you to decline, require a co-signer or ask for a larger deposit, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires an adverse action notice naming the reporting agency. The Florida Fair Housing Act, F.S. 760.20 to 760.37, mirrors the federal protected classes, so the criteria, not the conversation, decide. How to screen a tenant in Florida goes deeper, and Sea Dog's published rental criteria show what a complete standard looks like.

What this means in Central Florida

The local market is forgiving on demand and unforgiving on price. Northmarq's second-quarter 2026 report put Orlando apartment vacancy at 8.5%, down 20 basis points from the prior quarter, with roughly 9,400 units expected to deliver in 2026, a 17% drop from 2025. Fewer new apartments means less competition for a single-family rental, but tenants still have choices, and a listing that sits two weeks longer than its neighbors is usually a price problem.

Two calendar items belong on the 90-day plan. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, so the lease should say who brings in patio furniture and who deploys shutters, and the house needs a wind-rated policy in your name, not the tenant's. The National Flood Insurance Program is authorized through December 11, 2026; if the home carries a flood policy, keep it current. On the cost side, Citizens Property Insurance's April 2026 county averages ran $1,409 in Orange, $1,572 in Seminole, $1,735 in Osceola and $1,756 in Lake, a useful benchmark when your landlord quote comes in.

Next step

By day 90 you should have a priced, listed, lawfully leased home with the deposit in its own account. The fastest way to anchor the whole plan is the number it rents for. Request a free rental analysis and Sea Dog will send a range built from current comparables for your address, whether you manage it yourself or not.