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own my house, renting a room?

D

Dice144

Senior member
I currently rent the second floor of my house to my best friend. It is a four bedroom house. He is renting two rooms, one for him and one for his 13 year old daughter. He pays $500 a month which includes power, heat, Internet/cable (highest package the provider offers)

He also has a cat. Couple people told me I made the rent too cheap considering he is getting roughly 750 sq ft plus access to living room, washer/dryer. We live in a very good neighborhood with the best schools in the area.

My only other close friend (who is my ex girlfriend) is getting out of nursing school in 3 weeks. She has no where to go and asked to rent out a room. What should/would you charge her?
 
depends on the extra services....


j/k

we are charging our single room renter 750 a month. considering the deal for the guy upstairs, i would charge about 300 as she will have use of the rest of the main floor and her room.
 
go $500 so she really feels like she is paying rent, and you're not trying to hit her again 😛

But who knows 🙂

You might make your other renter feel a bit upset if he finds out, but of course that is your decision.

Do you like the cat, apparently you put up with it.

Not like it's a surtax.

If an old friend I'd say $300 isn't bad, I helped out my cousin that way once, she was in a bad way and needed a place to crash.
 
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$500 for a good friend? very nice of you. Unless you are in dire need of more i wouldn't bother raising it.
 
I rented out a room for $800/month in 2001. Rents have gone up a lot.

Charge her the discounted friend rate of $1200.*












*The above is only applicable if you live in the same neighborhood as my house.
 
Dirigible said:
I rented out a room for $800/month in 2001. Rents have gone up a lot.

Charge her the discounted friend rate of $1200.*




*The above is only applicable if you live in the same neighborhood as my house.
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House rent in my neighborhood is in the $1200-1400 range. Two bedroom apartments in a complex charge over $700 plus utilities.
 
My advice? Don't mix friendship and business. You've already broken that rule and are being taken advantage of by renter #1. Charge what the market will bear, exactly what you would charge a stranger if you posted it on Craigslist.
 
how many bedrooms does your house have? does your friend do stuff like mow the lawn or cook dinner or clean the house, or he just looks after himself and otherwise you live like roomates?

If you have at least 4 bedrooms and you keep the master, and rent out a room to your ex, 400 or 500 is probably a good deal for her, and more $$$ for you to invest... Any less than that, and your being screwed, any more than that, and they might instead to opt to live in a shitty cheap apartment which is less safe...
 
Mandres said:
My advice? Don't mix friendship and business. You've already broken that rule and are being taken advantage of by renter #1. Charge what the market will bear, exactly what you would charge a stranger if you posted it on Craigslist.
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Agreed. Also stop being so good, of which everyone has different expectations, and instead start being reasonable. Renting to anyone (much less a friend) at way lower than market value is simply unreasonable.

For example, my mom rented a house at 50% below what the market would bare for almost two decades. When she decided to sell the renters were very vocal in begrudging the decision, eventually leaving the place a mess.

I have since learned people actually appreciate and respect fairness and reason more than being gifted something. Get a backbone, like tomorrow.
 
Dice144 said:
House rent in my neighborhood is in the $1200-1400 range. Two bedroom apartments in a complex charge over $700 plus utilities.
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Then it sounds like rent for your friend isn't overly low. If 2bed apartments are at 700, I would guess studios are under 500, so 300 for a room sounds reasonable.
 
Dice144 said:
I currently rent the second floor of my house to my best friend. It is a four bedroom house. He is renting two rooms, one for him and one for his 13 year old daughter. He pays $500 a month which includes power, heat, Internet/cable (highest package the provider offers)

He also has a cat. Couple people told me I made the rent too cheap considering he is getting roughly 750 sq ft plus access to living room, washer/dryer. We live in a very good neighborhood with the best schools in the area.

My only other close friend (who is my ex girlfriend) is getting out of nursing school in 3 weeks. She has no where to go and asked to rent out a room. What should/would you charge her?
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Your friend is getting highway robbery dude.

A 2 bed-room apartment with all utilities paid, comes with washer + dryer. Does he get a fuckin spot in the garage too? All for $500/month? Yeah dude, he is milking you dry.

I would talk to him about getting with the times as far as a reasonable payment. I would push more towards $800/month especially with the cat. Everytime a home is used (walked on, etc...) it is doing wear and tear. Add in a cat that eats/shits/sprays? Yeah, it isn't cheap.

We charged our friend $500/month for 1 bedroom.... and that was it. She didn't get an entire upstairs.
 
Your numbers mean nothing without a location. $500 for 2 rooms in CA would be dirt cheap. $500 for a room in CA would still be cheap.
 
I'll play devil's advocate. It would seem like the friend is getting an awesome deal, but the situation could mean the OP is getting an easy $500 bucks a month for a much better living situation than getting however much more renting to a stranger. Is the friend getting a deal on 2 rooms making tons of money and saving it all? He should probably pay the OP a little more if so, but OP would have to give us more info. What if he is a divorced dad, trying to get back on his feat, whatever.

The homeowner will have to weigh the benefits. Maybe he gets along great with the friend and daughter and isn't hurting for the money. Maybe the market would be like $750 or $1,000. Is the potential of a random renter at market prices worth the extra $250 or $500 a month?

I have a 5 bedroom house (4 bedrooms upstairs, 1 bedroom downstairs) for me and my wife. 2 floors, 2800 sq ft. Her mom moved in when she had nowhere else to go and we don't charge her mom rent (she is in downstairs bedroom). My little sister moved in for like 10 months once because she got a job nearby. I charged her $100 a month with all utilities for a room and basically all house access. If it wasn't for the familial (or in OP's case, friendly relationship), I wouldn't have rented to anyone anyway.

If a friend of mine had nowhere to go, I'd only charge what I thought was fair in our relationship and not care about the market. If he/she was down on his luck, broke, I probably wouldn't charge anything depending on our relationship.
 
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People who mix business and pleasure are asking for future trouble.

A true good friend wouldn't let his pal make the same mistake twice much less expect such enormous generosity. Can I borrow your expensive lawnmower? Sure. Can you care for my dog while I'm away on two-week vacation? Certainly! Can you take significant losses on future earnings for me without any mention of eventual compensation. Unless you are a family member, absolutely not.

Do these friends even have a reasonable or realistic picture of area rental costs? They should. I personally couldn't remain a burden to anyone without at least contributing something of equal or tangible worth. Maintenance and upkeep... whatever it takes.

Anyhow, the OP can easily find an excellent renter the same way he found such good friends. lol
 
Kelvrick said:
I'll play devil's advocate. It would seem like the friend is getting an awesome deal, but the situation could mean the OP is getting an easy $500 bucks a month for a much better living situation than getting however much more renting to a stranger. Is the friend getting a deal on 2 rooms making tons of money and saving it all? He should probably pay the OP a little more if so, but OP would have to give us more info. What if he is a divorced dad, trying to get back on his feat, whatever.

The homeowner will have to weigh the benefits. Maybe he gets along great with the friend and daughter and isn't hurting for the money. Maybe the market would be like $750 or $1,000. Is the potential of a random renter at market prices worth the extra $250 or $500 a month?

I have a 5 bedroom house (4 bedrooms upstairs, 1 bedroom downstairs) for me and my wife. 2 floors, 2800 sq ft. Her mom moved in when she had nowhere else to go and we don't charge her mom rent (she is in downstairs bedroom). My little sister moved in for like 10 months once because she got a job nearby. I charged her $100 a month with all utilities for a room and basically all house access. If it wasn't for the familial (or in OP's case, friendly relationship), I wouldn't have rented to anyone anyway.

If a friend of mine had nowhere to go, I'd only charge what I thought was fair in our relationship and not care about the market. If he/she was down on his luck, broke, I probably wouldn't charge anything depending on our relationship.
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He makes roughly 15k base more a year then me. He has no debt and just buys a lot of toys each month. He has full custody of his 13 year old daughter.

I gave him the master and second largest bedroom so he and his daughter would have maximum possible privacy. I hang out in my finished basement 90% of the time. So he also has full run on the living room. He also has his own half bathroom and we share the shower on the first floor.

When he first moved in I charged less rent in return for help painting/fixing up some parts of the house.
 
waggy said:
$500 for a good friend? very nice of you. Unless you are in dire need of more i wouldn't bother raising it.
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I'm with Waggy on this. If he's really a good friend I wouldn't raise his rent.

I would however be careful about letting the Ex move in unless your 100% sure it won't become uncomfortable down the road. (my bet is it will)
 
Mandres said:
My advice? Don't mix friendship and business. You've already broken that rule and are being taken advantage of by renter #1. Charge what the market will bear, exactly what you would charge a stranger if you posted it on Craigslist.
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x2

I wonder what kind of "friend" he will be when you tell him you can no longer give him a discount.

Be prepared to lose your "friend"
 
When his cat started to damage the furniture he auto raised his rent $25 a month to slowly pay off the damages per say.

The more I think about the ex moving in the worse of an idea it is.
 
Dice144 said:
When his cat started to damage the furniture he auto raised his rent $25 a month to slowly pay off the damages per say.

The more I think about the ex moving in the worse of an idea it is.
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Personally, I'd ignore what other people say and that you should charge more. And if you were going to rent out another room, I think charging a different amount is just asking for trouble (exception being for pet damage, which seems fair). I could see it being a bit different if you have a mortgage though.

However, that extra roommate being an ex..... Yeah, I wouldn't do that.
 
Vdubchaos said:
x2

I wonder what kind of "friend" he will be when you tell him you can no longer give him a discount.

Be prepared to lose your "friend"
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Exactly. Been there done that. When I stopped being so generous with my time, energy and money (in an effort to be liked) and instead became straightforward and commanded respect, I started having much healthier relationships. A person who takes way more than given over a prolonged period isn't a friend, it's a leech.

In fact, I wish one of my 'good friends' would have pulled me aside and taught me this lesson years ago. It would have saved me so much trouble and anguish.

Though the same situation with family is a different dynamic. One of my good friends gave his mom half of his house to live; she works full time and yet pays no rent, expenses or any part of the mortgage. The few times he had tried to approach the subject - and his money difficulties - she immediately dismisses the discussion. Of course, a mother has the larger upper hand than a friend. 🙂

Dice144 said:
When his cat started to damage the furniture he auto raised his rent $25 a month to slowly pay off the damages per say.

The more I think about the ex moving in the worse of an idea it is.
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Agreed. Nothing good could come from you both living under the same roof, much less you being her landlord.
 
So you'll just be hanging out in the basement while your roommate is banging your ex upstairs?
 
oh god how can it be so cheap.

For that rent you should at least be farting in the living room every night.
 
bradley said:
Exactly. Been there done that. When I stopped being so generous with my time, energy and money (in an effort to be liked) and instead became straightforward and commanded respect, I started having much healthier relationships. A person who takes way more than given over a prolonged period isn't a friend, it's a leech.

In fact, I wish one of my 'good friends' would have pulled me aside and taught me this lesson years ago. It would have saved me so much trouble and anguish.

Though the same situation with family is a different dynamic. One of my good friends gave his mom half of his house to live; she works full time and yet pays no rent, expenses or any part of the mortgage. The few times he had tried to approach the subject - and his money difficulties - she immediately dismisses the discussion. Of course, a mother has the larger upper hand than a friend. 🙂



Agreed. Nothing good could come from you both living under the same roof, much less you being her landlord.
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Many people learn this lesson the hard way.....and some NEVER do.
 
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