I’ve decided to Rent out one of the rooms in my house, but I wanted to know what is the differences between House Sharing and Renting a Room in my house?
This is my first time doing something like this. Do I have to have legal papers drawn up and stuff. Any advice or websites you can recommend on this subject matter?
Well are you renting a room? Or sharing a house? There’s a huge difference. What about kitchen privileges? Is the person going to be responsible for any upkeep in the house, like cleaning, dusting, shoveling the driveway? Or is it strictly a room?
Yes you need some sort of agreement in writing and it needs to be clear what you’re renting, the house or the room. What areas he/she will have access to and what the limits are on things like overnight stays and such
I’m renting out one of 3 bedrooms in the house, but whoever gets it has full use of the kitchen, laundry etc…I’ll be paying all utilities etc.
Look up laws regarding the differences between lodgers and tenants, especially in California. Definitely get it in writing. Draft your agreements very carefully.
Tell us what state you live in, and we can give specific advice. But, yes, you should absolutely have a written agreement, and you’ll need to check your state laws to see what that agreement is allowed to say (and what parts of the agreement are required by the state).
Good start but make very sure you spell everything out in the agreement. Who does the housework, overnight guests, phone and cable services (best to have lodger install separately and double check your homeowners insurance to see if the lodger is covered.
Other things to consider:
Make sure your agreement spells out in detail that only the person renting the room is to stay there.
Late fees. On a monthly lease, 5% aftr the 5th, 10% after the 10th After the 15th, take them to court and spell out that the tenant has to pay any and all court and legal fees to recover the rent, unless:
Check to see if a clause that if the tenant doesn’t pay the rent, you can toss them out without a court battle is legal in your state. If it is, include it in your agreement.
Spell out in big bold letters ANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITY IS CAUSE FOR IMMEDIATE EVICTION.
Rather than take this advice, speak to a knowledgable attorney in your area. I don’t know of any place where a “landlord’s eviction” or “lockout for cause” is legal anymore. A landlord generally can’t evict a tenant - only a court/sherriff can, after determining it is warranted (a process which is somewhat less than “immediate”). You could end up being the one who owes damages to your tenant if you do not go through the correct process.
If you live in a metropolitan area, often there is a local landlord’s or tenants group that can provide you with information on the rights and responsibilities of both landlord and tenant. They might even have a mediation service you can use if disagreements arise.
From a more colloquial point of view, the difference between “renting a room” and “sharing a house” is an attitude. If you are “sharing a house” you are equal partners in the household. If you are “renting a room” the renting party is clearly subordinate in terms of household decision-making. In my experience, if one party is responsible for the mortgage, and the other party just pays rent, only in very rare circumstances would the relationship end up feeling equal to the parties involved.
Contact an attorney about late fees, too. It may not be legal in your jurisdiction.
Also, I don’t know why you would want to wait until the 15th to start your process if your state allows you to act sooner.
A better way to deal with late fees is offer a discount. For instance, if you want to rent out the room for $300/month, say it this way.
Rent of $325 is due on the first of every month. A discount of $25 will be applied to rent paid BEFORE the first of every month. So this way you get your $300 and you’re assured of getting the rent payment before the first of the month.
I had one flat do this for me and I made darn well sure my rent was paid before the first, even though I knew that is sort of a scheme, it does work.
Wow, you guys are Awesome!!! Thanks for the advice.
There will also be a difference in what the potential renters see.
For the renter, there’s certainly a difference in how I would react to a place rented as a house share, or room for rent. Thinking back to renting days, if you advertise a house share, renters are probably more likely to think of this as “place where one guy’s name is on the papers, but we’re all equally sharing all the space”. Like if you were in university, and living in a shared house where you’d be most likely to hang out in the living room with a beer in hand, and all that goes with that. If I saw room for rent, I’d probably think “place where one guy owns the whole thing, and we’re his tenants”, and assume I’d most likely be spending time in my room, and facing restrictions on times I could run the washing machine, and things like that.
Often, dudes consider “house sharing” is when 2+ dudes get together and rent a house together. None of them are the “landlord”. Or like beartato sez.
Now, OP, if the person you are going to rent to is a close friend or relative, you could likely just go ahead. There are some risks, but they are minor. But if it’s a FoaF or a stranger, then get it all in writing.
If I was renting an apartment and had an extra room, I would’ve placed an ad for a roommate. But since I now own a home and have 3 bedrooms, I wasn’t sure how to advertise it. House share, room for rent, or just plain roommate. I’ve been seeing alot of House Sharing ads, so I figured thats how I should advertise it. Do you know if there is one particular that would get more bites versus the other? Whats FoaF?
Don’t have anything else to add, sorry, but this means “Friend of a Friend”.
As you said, most people see “roommate” and think of getting a bedroom in an apartment. It’s not incorrect for what you want but not the best term.
Well, it depends how much access they have to the house. Are you going to let all areas of the house be common areas? They’re allowed to hang out in the living room, to cook multi-course meals in the kitchen any day of the week if so inclined, to invite people to watch the game on TV, leave their shoes in the front hallway, store a bike in the garage, etc. That’s house sharing.
Are you expecting them to mostly stay in their room, to use the kitchen for simple things like making sandwiches or grabbing a bowl of cereal, to keep all their possessions in their room, to be quiet and not invite groups of friends over? Then you’re just renting a room.
Obviously you’d have to work out specifics with your renter. As to which will get more responses, it really depends where the house is. Are you located near a university? Or way out in the suburbs? Or something else?