Renting out a house

[HAULN-SS]

Hey, have any of you ever owned a property that you rented out? I have been kicking around trying to rent my house lately, and I made a craiglist posting just to gauge interest and was surprised that I have had several legitimate replies to the ad (makes me think I should maybe ask for more).

If you have done this before, would you recommend using any kind of management company to handle renting it out, or just wing it and write up a lease skipping the middle man? Anything to beware of? I was planning on running a background check, credit and income verification, as well as requiring prior rental history.