My wife and I rent out rooms in our (fairly large) house all the time – advertising on Craigslist – but we have a separate bathroom and kitchen for the renters to use. That’s probably not the case for you, I presume.
Sort of on topic: I have a friend who used to post “room for rent” ads outside the back doors of local strip joints. Apparently, strippers are more likely to require housing on short notice than the population in general, and aren’t too picky about who they live with.
It wasn’t that he slept with them- he slept with their friends instead. Pretty brilliant plan, really, provided that (1) you like sleeping with strippers, and (2) don’t mind coming home and finding your stuff gone every now and then.
No way. Not with a child in the house especially. Put the word out with friends and family… it may take longer but its not unlikely that a friend or a friend of a friend needs a room for rent.
$350 a month just doesn’t sound like it would be worth the inevitable hassle, and the possibility of much bigger (and more expensive) problems.
If you’d written the OP as “we’re about to be foreclosed on” or “we incurred so much medical debt we’re about to declare bankruptcy” I’d tell you to be careful and keep your eyes open. But saying “we could use a little extra money” strikes me as a bad idea to do something with the potential to become such a disaster.
I say no. The stakes are too high.
I’m a pretty private and paranoid guy. Rooming with a friend for a few months was one thing but I don’t know if I could handle a stranger living at my place. I voted no.
I’d like to think “Yes.”
Here’s the thing … first of all, I live in Maine, so I’d feel a little more at ease with a local here than I would a local in, say, Brooklyn or something. I use Brooklyn as an example – not that it’s so horrible, it’s just not a little seaside burg like Portland is. Secondly, I was a guy who got a room in Oakland, CA, of all places, by placing an ad on Craigslist … and I hardly killed anybody.
So, it can be done to mutual satisfaction if you find the right person.
I probably would not - but I don’t need the money at this time.
If I did need the money? Yeah, maybe.
I’ve rented rooms from a bunch of people over the years. Works nicely, but I’m a good roommate, keep to myself, don’t make messes or steal stuff, and am always on time with the bills.
Sometimes people are almost bafflingly trusting though… Coming back off of a cruise, I needed a place to stay, and asked around. A guy I knew, not really a close friend but we were well acquainted, said he had a friend who was looking to rent out a room. So I go out and check the room out. Nice place, nice family.
The weird thing was… They had 3 daughters, ages 3, 7, and 9. Parents room was downstairs, next to the 3 year olds room. Upstairs and across the house, were the 7 and 9 year olds rooms… and mine. And the bathroom I shared with 7 and 9 year old girls. I moved in the first day I met them.
Granted, this was a navy family, and I was in the navy, and was referred to them by a mutual acquaintance in the navy, so i had a reference, but it was still weird, and very trusting on their part. Hell, the dad went on a cruise a few months later, so for a while I was the only guy in the house.
I just made goddamned sure that bathroom door was ALWAYS locked.