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I'm considering renting a room to someone, primarily to help pay bills and such. I wanted to know if there are things I should know or expect, how much I should charge, and what the best way to go about looking for a potential roommate would be. Any advice or insight into the matter is appreciated. Some background: I'm 22, living on my own in this house that I rent from some family members. I have 2 cats (from a previous relationship) and I'm attending school currently.
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Jun 20, 2014 22:17
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 05:17 |
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To find out how much you can charge, look for similar vacancies around the area on craigslist. Things that increase the price of rent Private bathroom (will they share it with you? even if they won't share it with you, a hallway bathroom that will never be used by anyone else is still not a private bathroom because other people can use it) Driveway space for them Utilities included* Be up front about the cats and take pictures of the room and the bathroom they are expected to use. Look up renter laws for the area. My state does not require a permit to rent out a room or put the deposit in a separate savings account, but yours might. Easy way to do this is to type: "<your county name+ state> renters laws" Also you mentioned that you rent from family; make sure the contract doesn't have any clauses that say you cannot sublet. Do an investigation on any interested parties: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-landlords-can-check-tenant-s-credit-report.html Get a renter contract from somewhere and have you and them sign it. It's a contract and they've agreed to all of the terms which means it is enforceable. There are many templates out there; search for one and edit it to suit your specific requirements and county laws.
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Jun 20, 2014 22:35
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EVIR Gibson posted:To find out how much you can charge, look for similar vacancies around the area on craigslist. Thank you, I appreciate the answer!
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Jun 20, 2014 23:16
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Beyond that, always have a frank discussion with them about your lifestyle and how they'd be as a roommate, you don't need to be super personal but you're gonna want to know poo poo like, what time they work, how much housework they intend to contribute, how organized they are, when they come and go, if they like to have people over often, poo poo like that.
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Jun 20, 2014 23:48
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Your school probably has some sort of "looking for roommates" board.
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Jun 21, 2014 00:04
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I rent a house and then sub-let 4 other rooms (5 total). The main piece of advice I have for you is that you need to know eviction laws and be prepared to use them if you have to. If a renter gets behind on rent they will never catch up. They may keep paying rent, but they won't pay the back-rent. Make it clear in the lease that they are not allowed to use their deposit to pay the last month of rent. Otherwise, having roommates is a good experience. Some turn out to be really cool, and if they don't that's fine too because you don't need to be friends with them. The main source of friction, in my experience, is kitchen related. Some people see no problem with leaving dishes in the sink for a few days, while others think that's worse than Hitler (it is). Some people have no idea how to care for kitchen stuff (wood cutting boards in the dishwasher, scraping teflon with a fork, etc). If kitchen stuff is important to you, make it clear in the ad. Also, coordinate your showers ahead of time. If they start dating someone they may be away a bunch, or have their significant other over frequently, and you should be cool with that. In a house with multiple roommates, everyone will hate the two that start loving/dating. That poo poo is so annoying.
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Jun 21, 2014 16:34
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Your school might also have a standard/example lease drawn up that you could use (depending on the size of your school). Check the housing office website. These leases will almost always have the common landlord/tenant problems spelled out (missed rent, security deposit, guest limits) and worded in a way that favors the landlord/you while also meeting the legal requirements of your area. I went to a big ten school and every landlord in the area used the school's standard lease with a few extra clauses depending on if they allowed pets or parking space rental.
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Jun 21, 2014 22:02
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Dr Strangepants posted:I rent a house and then sub-let 4 other rooms (5 total). The main piece of advice I have for you is that you need to know eviction laws and be prepared to use them if you have to. If a renter gets behind on rent they will never catch up. They may keep paying rent, but they won't pay the back-rent. Make it clear in the lease that they are not allowed to use their deposit to pay the last month of rent. I give a speech when I rent a place about how some landlords are pretty flex with late rent, and I am not those landlords. Due on the 1st, late on the 2nd, if I haven't heard from you I am posting eviction on the 3rd and it's time to go. In my experience, this scares away the people who are frequently late. Further, ask about source and reliability of income. Do they have a job, do they have a paystub, how long have they worked there, etc. If there is no reliable source of income, run.
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Jun 22, 2014 06:24
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I rented an apartment that was older and above a doctors office that had 4 rooms I rented out the other 3 to people from craiglist. Rent a month: $675 a month Charged each tennant: $400 a month And I got the only garage parking space So basically I got paid $525 to live in my own apartment ever month. I did that until I had enough money to move across the US and I would never consider having roomates again. Roomate #1: Car constantly broke down and had delayed although always paid rent. Also would constantly leave his food out or somehow make a mess in the microwave. Had his 16 year old kid over for a week who purchased porn on the tv without asking, that was nice surprise on my bill. Roomate #2: Had his homies over every weekend would stay up till late hours of the night drinking beer and watching UFC/Soccer would leave empty beer bottles all over the kitchen and eat my food. Roomate #3: Worked at the same place as this guy but he was on the other side of the building I put up an ad at work he moved in a few weeks later. Really respectful guy super clean and quiet all of a sudden he just disappeared but his car was at the apartments he was gone for about a month and a half I looked into it later he got arrested for drug possession and domestic abuse. He never came to pick up his poo poo so I had his car towed and threw his poo poo into the basement. Roomate #4: Some chick who seemed cool enough first week was good then she had her 'girlfriend' stay over for a week then asked if she could live there too for 2 or 3 months I said sure if she paid $200 a month. Apparently they had a little party while I was on vacation for the week and were prancing around in their panties being all slutty with the two guys that lived there. I finally had enough saved up to move across the country and I worked everything out with Roomate #1 to take over the rent payments. A week after I moved my landlord called me up and said that Roomate #1 moved out and wasn't going to be paying rent even though he signed the paperwork into his name. Roomate #2 then moved out saying his mom was sick that same day and that left the 2 girls. The two girls couldn't afford the full rent so the landlord wanted me to tell them to leave. I had no legal obligation to this place anymore I told them to get hosed and it wasn't my problem anymore, she said I wouldn't get my security deposit back....such a shame since I never paid one in the first place. Basically gently caress roomates I made an assload of money off mine and it wasn't worth it be poor its a much better choice.
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Jun 22, 2014 06:47
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Guru Yaekob posted:I rented an apartment that was older and above a doctors office that had 4 rooms I rented out the other 3 to people from craiglist. You tricked people living paycheck to paycheck into vastly overpaying for rent. You described two women as being "all slutty". You put in quotes the word girlfriend for your female roommates date. You are a sexist, homophobic thief. Basically gently caress you.
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Jun 22, 2014 07:37
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Rob Filter posted:You tricked people living paycheck to paycheck into vastly overpaying for rent. You described two women as being "all slutty". You put in quotes the word girlfriend for your female roommates date. You are a sexist, homophobic thief. Basically gently caress you. I tricked them? I posted rooms for $400 a month on Craigslist it was their choice to pay my asking prices. When you are running around in panties brushing up on men who are married/have girlfriends yes you are slutty. I put the word girlfriend in quotes because I wasn't sure if they were 'together' or friends there were a lot of mixed signals. Sexist? No Homophobic? Not in the slightest Theif? How do you figure? Thanks though.
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Jun 22, 2014 07:45
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Guru Yaekob posted:I rented an apartment that was older and above a doctors office that had 4 rooms I rented out the other 3 to people from craiglist. If you run into an rear end in a top hat, it's probably just an rear end in a top hat. If everyone you run into is an rear end in a top hat... you are probably the rear end in a top hat.
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Jun 22, 2014 08:04
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Thanatosian posted:I've lived with roommates for the past seven years. I'm not saying it's been all rainbows and leprechauns or anything, but there haven't been any, like, horrific problems. I was working 80 hour weeks never complained about a late rent payment and was never home. Not sure how I was the rear end in a top hat. I had plenty of great roomates through out my life but this experience ruined me for life.
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Jun 22, 2014 08:37
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Guru Yaekob posted:I tricked them? I posted rooms for $400 a month on Craigslist it was their choice to pay my asking prices. When you are running around in panties brushing up on men who are married/have girlfriends yes you are slutty. I put the word girlfriend in quotes because I wasn't sure if they were 'together' or friends there were a lot of mixed signals. Sexist? No Homophobic? Not in the slightest Theif? How do you figure? Those were just buzzwords for 'massive dick'. You're a massive dick and a lovely roommate. You overcharged a bunch of randoms from CraigsList and got upset when they turned out to be imperfect. Background checks are your friend. Ferdinand the Bull fucked around with this message at 08:44 on Jun 22, 2014 |
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Jun 22, 2014 08:42
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Ferdinand the Bull posted:Those were just buzzwords for 'massive dick'. I got upset when there was moldy pizza in the fridge, porn was ordered without asking me or even paying me for it, and I had to clean up after a bunch of adults when I got home every night. Sorry I don't believe in being an 'individual', I guess asking people to be clean is too much to ask.
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Jun 22, 2014 08:45
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Guru Yaekob posted:I got upset when there was moldy pizza in the fridge, porn was ordered without asking me or even paying me for it, and I had to clean up after a bunch of adults when I got home every night. Sorry I don't believe in being an 'individual', I guess asking people to be clean is too much to ask. i guess overcharging people massively and acting as little lord fauntleroy of the manor is the proper thing to do. carry on, then.
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Jun 22, 2014 09:05
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Ferdinand the Bull posted:i guess overcharging people massively and acting as little lord fauntleroy of the manor is the proper thing to do. I never confronted anyone or bitched about it. It just isn't an experience I would be willing to go through again.
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Jun 22, 2014 09:30
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You're just bitter and jealous because the "sluts" ran around in their panties while you were away on holiday. Separately, I've found the best way to get good roommates is to meet them first. You can normally tell if someone is a total weirdo pretty quickly. Some quick thoughts on things to ask: - Do you have many friends locally? (good way to scope if they are going to be dependent upon you for a social life) - Do you cook? (good cooks tend to be more respectful/clean in the kitchen, and also might make you nice food) - Hobbies/Sports? - What do you do for work? Typical hours? Morning schedule (showers)? - Do you like to mix in the house or are you going to shut yourself in your room? (personally, I hate the people who shut themselves in - everyone likes their personal space sometimes, but when you're doing it every single hour that you're in, it gets a bit rude). Also worth finding out if they are going to disappear off every weekend. - Girlfriend/boyfriend? If they are going to stay over? - Big TV watcher, or big gamer? - Like to have parties? - Smoke? Drugs? Other things to raise: - What you expect of them (being quiet on weeknights, being generally clean, do their bit for chores (I hate rotas - I normally just agree that if you think the bathroom needs cleaning, just do it). - Bills division. One pays and then gets money from the others? All pay separately? - Smoking / drugs rules. My biggest bug bears: - Dirty kitchen. No one is perfect - and it's fine to leave a couple of dishes for a day every now and again or forget to wipe up some crumbs. But please don't let them pile up... and if you get anything more dirty than crumbs on the worktop please wipe it up. Also please learn how to wash up properly - the order should be glass/cups, cutlery, plates, then finally pans/anything greasy. And do it with proper hot water. I used to loving hate finding the drying dishes with a thin layer of grease (because the pans were washed first and/or the water was too cold). - Kitchen/food hygeine. I had a flatmate who often had her boyfriend over. He'd always cook chicken, and would loving wipe his raw-chicken hands on our tea towels and then pick up our salt/pepper/etc and be generally poo poo with raw chicken. Whenever he stayed round, me and my other roommate would have to go sanitize the kitchen and wash the towels. Thankfully they split up. - Toilet habits. Please use the brush and please replace the toilet roll. Also, if you have long hair, please unclog the shower plug. Please pre-warn flatmates prior to a long shower/bath (if you only have one bathroom). - Noise. If it's after 10.30, please be actively quiet! There is nothing worse than being able to hear someone else's TV or skype conversation through the walls when your trying to sleep. Also, if your apartment has wooden floors, please take your shoes off! I had a flatmate who used to do hula hooping in her room at like midnight with her shoes on. And please don't slam doors. Sure, everyone gets drunk and stumbles in noisily at 3am once in a while - that is fine if it's not all the time - but there is no excuse for consistently being inconsiderate every night. - Shut ins. Already mentioned this, but I don't like sharing with people who lock themselves in their room whenever they are in. Private time alone is important, so every now and again is understandable. Thankfully, I've only had one roommate who did that. Ewan fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Jun 22, 2014 |
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Jun 22, 2014 14:03
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Ewan posted:Separately, I've found the best way to get good roommates is to meet them first. You can normally tell if someone is a total weirdo pretty quickly. This is a good list. I shared for a few years and generally you’ll get ok people, but as other have said be prepared for how to deal with the ones you just have to get rid of. You can never really know until they’ve been there for a while. My strangest experience from a flatshare isn’t really bad. I shared with three others, and we took in a new guy, who some months in started showing signs of serious anxiety. Couldn’t manage to leave the flat and so on. He could just about managed with the two girls we shared with. They also did a lot of shopping etc. for him. Whenever I’d get in he’d retreat to his room. Kind of awkward, but I was only there for a short time longer, and not really bad for anyone but himself. But, you can never be sure stuff like this won’t happen.
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Jun 22, 2014 14:43
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The Dish Wars Roommate 1 is a slob. They leave dishes and dirty pans in the sink constantly. Roommate 2 is a little passive-aggressive and very neat. They clean all their dishes immediately, including roommate 1's. Finally roommate 2 gets fed up. This eventually boils over into a a large confrontation, which results in A: roommate 1 cleans up their act (for a little while) or B: roommate 2 enters full-on "gently caress it" mode and stops cleaning any of their own dishes. B is the bad bad bad option. Both roommates refuse to tackle the ever-increasing mountain of pots and pans, which grows more disgusting and filthy with every day, until they are reduced to eating cereal out of a colander with a gravy ladle and drinking out of warped tupperware. This can't last forever, and it doesn't, as someone eventually has to clean up the giant mess, and the whole thing collapses in a very bad way at some point. Repeat. Wrinkles include a roommate 3 who nobody ever sees use any dishes, because they're always in their room, but who doesn't clean up after themselves, leading both the clean roommate and the messy one to assume these mystery dishes are the other person's, and to more heated accusations. An impromptu gathering of mutual friends of everybody, where everybody convinces themselves it's the other persons responsibility to clean up. A roommate 4 who leaves for a week, comes home to find the dish wars in full swing and adds more dirty dishes to the giant catastrofuck because they aren't going to be the one who cleans it up. Teriyaki Hairpiece fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Jun 22, 2014 |
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Jun 22, 2014 15:00
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 05:17 |
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cheerfullydrab posted:The Dish Wars
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Jun 22, 2014 15:06
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