First rental property

[Parasternal]

Deleted.

[CordMcNally]

I would not suggest your first rental (or any rental) be rented to family.

[nolamd84]

If I had the money I would do it basically as a gift and would consider any money I get from them in "rent" to be bonus. Or just use that money for maintenance. Certainly not a good investment but would be nice to do as a way to help my parents without them feeling bad about it.

[StarTrekDoc]

Home for your parents shouldn't be considered a rental property.  It's nothing like it aside for money covering some expenses.

For my parents, it was a condo nearby with attached garage; no freeway, and absolutely no maintenance yard work.  We bought a condo and my parents 'rent' it at below market rates.  My in-laws wanted  single story SFH with a yard to grow fruit trees and cover costs; but wanted the home free+clear so we assisted them with 200k on that.  --we were fortunate to have the means to pull both those off.

Having them both near us is priceless and well worth the sunken costs.

Get them into a situation that they want/are willing to downsize into and assist them as you can, but it's more emotional than financial

[mobilehomegurl]

Definitely would not go into a situation with family renting. Just my opinion.  

If they're looking to downsize and not deal with maintenance, condos are always an option unless they want a yard. If this is the case, they'll need to make sure they buy into a smaller lot for less upkeep on the outside.

Good luck!