SFH House Hack - Tenant Sourcing

[Edwin Renninger]

Hi BP!

Own a $510,000 4 bed / 3.5 bath Townhouse (SFH) in Southeast Washington D.C. which I've been house hacking since purchase in August 2019. I've been renting by the room with shared common area access to all other areas. I fondly remember the ease with which I sourced roommates/tenants from Aug - Nov 2019 using FB Marketplace, Craigslist, Roomster, RoomieMatch.com, and a few smaller platforms. My two most recent roommates/tenants who moved out for differing economic reasons between May and June 2020: one for a new job opportunity and the other to move-in with retired family whose retirement fund payouts have been reduced by Covid. I'm seeing considerably less interest towards the same advertising strategy since I started my roommate/tenant search again in June 2020.

Current roommate/tenant status as follows:

• Master bedroom: Couple @ $1000/mo

• 2nd floor bedroom #1: Me

• 2nd floor bedroom #2: Vacant

• Basement bedroom: Vacant

Mortgage is $2750/mo and I’m more than able to sustain it with W-2 income but it kills me each day I lose out on potential rental income.

Any advice: general, DMV-market based, or specific to sourcing SFH House Hack tenants/roommates, would be greatly appreciated and remembered. Will be watching this thread closely to provide any other essential information needed.

Thanks in advance!

- Ed