It takes 3 minutes on the phone with your agent to convert HO Ins to a rental policy and it does not cost that much more.

The best way to protect yourself is to ask for first and last months rent at closing.

We did a rent-back agreement with the sellers for 10 days after buying our house. No issues. However, that period was short enough to not fall into the issue of being considered a rental property.
If you do a lease back, make sure you are covered as a landlord in terms of insurance, charge market rent, and have a definitive lease end date.
Also, get professional/legal help to review your lease agreement.

[quote=Ribbles]We are in this situation right now in Temecula, except we’re the renters. I don’t think you have a whole lot to be concerned with, considering they were owners and are buying a new house – i.e., on the surface it sounds like they’re responsible enough. In our case, we sold to a pair of Chinese retirees, all cash. We needed to rent for 45 days until our new construction is complete, and worked out all the terms in the contract (no deposit, 45 days rent in advance, with an option for more time at market rate if needed). They aren’t nitpicking us about anything (haven’t even heard from them or their pm since closing, in fact), which we really appreciate. Funny thing is, because we still have a bit of an attachment to the place, I’m the one worried about them taking care of it. “They do know they need to hire a gardener asap, right?” We’re taking the same good care of it we always have, and we’ll leave it spotless when we go.[/quote]

So your gardener is no longer caring for the property ?
Do the terms of the lease say that the tenant (you) are to care for the lawn or the landlord ?
Just an example of what should be in the agreement.

The list price is right on with current comps. This is probably the best location in the complex. West views (slight ocean/Coronado), least amount of neighbors possible, slight 125 noise. Rent back is not complicated or scary. No need for gardener with this property. Trash, water is paid by owner and not included in HOA. If you have the cash to buy this outright, I would buy something in the 500’s. You can do much better in that price range. We sold same condo in 2014 for 325K. Price spiked and piggybacked on our sales price which was the highest at that time. We never lived there, but I would say that amenities are top notch. Gym and pool are fantastic. Better than what we get in Eastlake Woods.