Finding tenants for a rent-by-room House Hack

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Finding tenants for a rent-by-room House Hack

Grayson Muehlstein
Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 4 votes

I just wanted to get on here and bounce some ideas off of those who have any experience with the rent-by-room House Hacking method. What are some successes or failures you have had using this strategy? How can I feel more comfortable about getting into a House Hack and actually being able to find people who would even consider living with other strangers in a single family home? The concept sounds great but the execution is what concerns me. I could see this being an easy choice for someone who had identified a few friends or people they know already who they would plan to live with. I will be going to a new city and will not have this luxury so wanted to see what others had to say to ease my uncertainty or to validate why I am uncertain. 

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Michael HaasBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Redmond, 🌧️ Seattle Investor-Agent | 🤑 Helped 400+ Clients Invest in Real Estate | 🏘️ Owns 23 WA Rentals & Airbnbs | 🏗️ Built 5 DADU's | 📈 You Can Do It Too · Member since 2016 · 724 posts · 3k+ votes
5y

If you trick out your property, making sure its stylishly painted, has good room sizes, and is setup well for work from home (ideally with high speed internet and some flex spaces / office spaces) you can get a lot of interest. It's all about catoring to the right demographic, which for househacking here in seattle is 21-35 single young professionals in tech, medical etc. A lot are new transplants to the city, like yourself, and may be interested in the instant community a by the room rental provides. 

Happy to chat more on the phone or over coffee if you're interested. We're on Househack #4 now, and although we househack by the unit now (with duplexes or Single Family Homes with an ADU or two), by the room househacks and rentals was how we got started.

[email protected]408-439-7873
HouseHack Seattle | Michael Haas & Team572 Reviews
WebsiteView Page
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  • Andrew Powers
    Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2018 · 304 posts · 185 votes
    5y

    When I moved to Michigan a few years back, I had to find roommates and a property to rent, knowing nobody. I went through that pain but it I was able to apply learnings to my rent by room house hack a couple years later. 

    Some tips:

    -I use Craigslist to find roommates with a "room available" or "looking for roommates" ad. In the ad I give a brief background about me / the other roommates to give candidates an idea about who they would be living with, but do not bias when selecting final candidate. (FB marketplace works as well).

    -screening process is same between normal rental and room rental.

    -the lease is gospel. It can be same as a normal rental lease, with tweaks for roommates. And you can use a roommate agreement form as well. Things like keeping common areas clean and clutter free, wash dn dry dishes within xx hours of use, guests can stay a max of xx hours, etc.

    I've never had an issue finding roommates in metro Detroit. Seems like most people looking for rooms are under 35. Every ad I post gets at least a dozen initial responses . My suggestion would be to post a test ad on Craigslist to gauge demand. Keep in mind this time of year is really slow for onboarding renters but it can still give you an idea.

    4Reply
  • Connor AndersonBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2017 · 147 posts · 102 votes
    5y

    Hi Grayson - I think it all depends on your market and the size of the city. If you are looking to do the rent by the room strategy it works best in large cities with a number of new people moving to the area for work that may not have friends or a family to live with. In markets such as Denver, Austin, or Seattle the rent by the room strategy is easy to find tenants for.

    If the market you are investing in is small, more rural or suburban, you might have a harder time finding people who are only looking to rent a room.

    Either way some of Facebook Marketplace, Roomster, Craigslist, are great places to find roommates. Just make sure you screen them properly!

    [email protected]616-648-6353
    4Reply
  • Jasmine Calin
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2020 · 13 posts · 9 votes
    5y

    Hi @Grayson Muehlstein! Welcome to the house hack world. It is awesome! I did my first house hack in Charlotte, NC. I agree with @Connor Anderson that it works best in bigger cities, particularly big cities with higher rent. Regardless, I think the advice @Andrew Powers gave is spot on. 

    I would add a few more tips: 

    • In addition to Craigslist, search Facebook for groups created around finding housing in your area. For instance, I joined a group called Charlotte Housing, Room, Apartments, Sublets and I get altered anytime someone posts in there. If I have a room available, I message them directly. I also post my availabilities on the page and people will reach out to me.
    • Think through your role as landlord vs roommate. I have both a lease agreement that I use as my landlord document and a roommate agreement that I use as a roommate. The lease agreement is a normal residential lease agreement provided by the NC Association of Realtors. It covers me just as it would a normal landlord. The roommate agreement is because I have to live with these folks! Lol it is still legally binding but covers much more of the informal like common areas, cleaning expectations, not stealing each others food, etc.
    • Read books on how to be a landlord. It will help a lot since house hacking may just be the first step in your landlord career (as it is for most of us). Once you go beyond one property, you become a regular-ol’ landlord! Starting out that way from the get really helps you work out the kinks before turning the property over to tenants. I read The Book on Managing Rental Properties – it has become my reference guide. I got it from the library first, read it and then bought it, it was so helpful!
    • Watch this BP podcast on house hacking, lots of good advice from Todd. (Haha, sounds like I am a BP spokesperson, which I assure you, I am not)
    • Lastly, in my experience, knowing your market and the type of renters that look for rooms to rent is helpful. There are those in a hurry because (at least in NC) month-to-month leases will only be given 7 days notice (yikes!). There are those planning ahead who just want to save some money. I have had many reach out who were just in a living situation they can't be in anymore (breakup, roommate leaves unexpectedly, transitioning to the area). Get to know the type of people in your market by having a pre-screening call for every tenant interested. When somebody asked me to view the property, I respond by saying, "I would love for you to view the property. Prior to viewing the property let's schedule a phone call so I can answer any questions and share more about the qualifications. When is a good time to reach you?" If you want to hear more about how that call goes, feel free to reach out. 


    Good luck!

    5Reply
  • Michael HaasBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Redmond, 🌧️ Seattle Investor-Agent | 🤑 Helped 400+ Clients Invest in Real Estate | 🏘️ Owns 23 WA Rentals & Airbnbs | 🏗️ Built 5 DADU's | 📈 You Can Do It Too · Member since 2016 · 724 posts · 3k+ votes
    5y

    If you trick out your property, making sure its stylishly painted, has good room sizes, and is setup well for work from home (ideally with high speed internet and some flex spaces / office spaces) you can get a lot of interest. It's all about catoring to the right demographic, which for househacking here in seattle is 21-35 single young professionals in tech, medical etc. A lot are new transplants to the city, like yourself, and may be interested in the instant community a by the room rental provides. 

    Happy to chat more on the phone or over coffee if you're interested. We're on Househack #4 now, and although we househack by the unit now (with duplexes or Single Family Homes with an ADU or two), by the room househacks and rentals was how we got started.

    [email protected]408-439-7873
    HouseHack Seattle | Michael Haas & Team572 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    7Reply
  • Adrian Chu
    Real Estate Broker · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 427 votes
    5y

    It is not difficult even in the pandemic. Just have to price it right.

    0Reply
  • Sherief Elbassuoni
    Realtor · Bellevue, WA · Member since 2019 · 882 posts · 1k+ votes
    5y

    @Grayson Muehlstein, rent by room is a great tool to house hack. You can maximize the use of the property by renting it by room.

    This house hack strategy works very well if you are close to university, college, clinics, hospitals, businesses, ....

    College students, young professionals, travelling nurses are all good candidates for rent by room houses.

    Regarding marketing them, Craigslist and Facebook market place are both good places to market your property.

    3Reply
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