Managing entrance on Duplex?

[Sonny Dong]

Securing a duplex and house hacking one side. Each side is 3/2.5. Would it be wise to install a RING doorbell to monitor who goes in and out of the unit since I would be renting out by room? (renting out by room would net me better cashflow). It isn't in the best side of town and worried about unwarranted guests being brought by tenants. Can I add this in the lease agreement? In addition are utilities usually paid by tenants? The weather is very hot and water is expensive down here in Texas. Would one - most senior tenant - be responsible to take care of the utilities, collecting payment from other tenants? 

[Theresa Harris]

You can put a ring doorbell on your unit (ie where you live) and monitor it.

If you are renting the other unit by the room, include utilities in the price of the rent because there is no way you are going to get one of the tenants to be in charge of it when renting by the room.  I would also include a weekly cleaning service of the common areas (again included in the rent, so paid for by tenants indirectly).  This will give you someone in the unit itself on a weekly basis.  Tenants would still have to tidy up after themselves and do their dishes and such. If a room has their own bathroom, obviously that would not be part of the cleaner's responsibility as they would not be entering any of the private spaces.

Renting by the room will get you more money, but will also require more work on your part as there will be personality clashes (do not get involved in those).

[Sonny Dong]

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

You can put a ring doorbell on your unit (ie where you live) and monitor it.

If you are renting the other unit by the room, include utilities in the price of the rent because there is no way you are going to get one of the tenants to be in charge of it when renting by the room.  I would also include a weekly cleaning service of the common areas (again included in the rent, so paid for by tenants indirectly).  This will give you someone in the unit itself on a weekly basis.  Tenants would still have to tidy up after themselves and do their dishes and such. If a room has their own bathroom, obviously that would not be part of the cleaner's responsibility as they would not be entering any of the private spaces.

Renting by the room will get you more money, but will also require more work on your part as there will be personality clashes (do not get involved in those).

Thank you Theresa! Any red flags or recommendations when looking for a cleaner? Do I give the cleaner a key usually? Should I make sure my tenants have proof of rental insurance? I am house hacking my 1st SFH rn and none of them have rental insurance but I do manage the utilities because I live with them so I ask them for their part of the bills/utilities...I will probably take my name off the utilities once I move out and make the primary tenant get the water/electric in their name...

[Theresa Harris]

If you have one tenant renting the entire unit, that is another story; however, there are some bills if they don't pay, you are responsible for.  Where I am, that is water.  get copies of their paid bills every month or two, so you know they are up to date.

For a cleaner, ask them how they work. I've never used one, so I don't know.

As for insurance for tenants, again, I don't rent by the room so am not familiar with how that would work from the tenant's perspective.

[Judy Martinez]

Quote from @Sonny Dong:

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

You can put a ring doorbell on your unit (ie where you live) and monitor it.

If you are renting the other unit by the room, include utilities in the price of the rent because there is no way you are going to get one of the tenants to be in charge of it when renting by the room.  I would also include a weekly cleaning service of the common areas (again included in the rent, so paid for by tenants indirectly).  This will give you someone in the unit itself on a weekly basis.  Tenants would still have to tidy up after themselves and do their dishes and such. If a room has their own bathroom, obviously that would not be part of the cleaner's responsibility as they would not be entering any of the private spaces.

Renting by the room will get you more money, but will also require more work on your part as there will be personality clashes (do not get involved in those).

Thank you Theresa! Any red flags or recommendations when looking for a cleaner? Do I give the cleaner a key usually? Should I make sure my tenants have proof of rental insurance? I am house hacking my 1st SFH rn and none of them have rental insurance but I do manage the utilities because I live with them so I ask them for their part of the bills/utilities...I will probably take my name off the utilities once I move out and make the primary tenant get the water/electric in their name...

Hello,

I hope you do not mind me posting. I own a cleaning business and thought I would comment. 

Please note that I do not provide reoccurring maid or housekeeping service. However, after witnessing and being called in to redo others work, I have formed an opinion of what I would want if hiring a reoccuring service. 

1) Do not hire fly-by-night. Too many people buy a mop and bucket and then call themselves cleaners. You will end up with bad quality and unreliable service. THEN, you are looking for a new cleaner. 
2) Do not hire a company that has a high turnover rate. If turnover rate is high there will be the following problems. This is a mixture of my cleaning experience and HR experience. 
*different people always entering your home
* the people are poorly trained-poor quality
* new people translates to different unreliable cleaning. 
* the company does not care about their employees and pays poorly. 
* all the above means the company does not care about you 
3) If you hire an individual or a small business, make sure they are seasoned. Experience pays off. Read reviews. With reviews find the most common thing said about the cleaner that provides insight to the personality of you are hiring. 
4) Same with a larger company. Make sure they do not have a high turnover rate.
5) Cleaner is bonded and insured
6) Yes, it is safe to give a cleaner a key. I would not provide a key if you hire someone that has not proven themselves in the industry. 
7) If you hire the cheapest, you will most likely get what you pay for.  Like everyone else in the world, cleaners exchange their time for money. 

That does not mean you have to hire the most expensive. Because, like all other people in the world, work ethic pays an important role in quality. 

You and your cleaner should form a type of business relationship that will last long-term, which benefits the both of you. They provide you a great, reliable service (where services are not skipped or halfway completed) for a good price that is fair to the both of you. 

Regardless of the service, I tend to follow those steps. 

[Alecia Loveless]

@Sonny DongMany of the locations I have my rentals won’t let you put the water/sewer in a tenants name. It has to stay in the owners name.

It will be a disaster if you are renting by the room to try to make one of the tenants responsible for utilities. Simply include the cost in the rent and you pay it.

[Jaime Duron]

Hey Sonny Dong! When giving access to your cleaner, there are a couple of options. You can get a lockbox and keep it next to the water sprocket outside for their access or get a keyless entry so they can have their personal code. Plus, your able to track every time someone opens and closes the door. Now for the rental insurance, was it first mention on the lease? If its a month to month lease, you can make the amendment to the lease. If its outside of the that, you would need to wait until the lease is over from my understanding. 

 I would keep the utilities under your name because if he/she doesn't make the payment who do you think is liable if its under your "primary tenant" name..? Its definitely not going to be the primary tenant. It would be best if you manage everything yourself instead of relying on a tenant. Your primary tenant should be your eye's and hears of the household, but I wouldn't give them duties of your responsibility. 

[Michele Fischer]

Are you planning to say that no guests are allowed at all?  I would think that would turn off a lot of applicants, peopel want their own place to have some freedom.  

Any guest policy is very hard to enforce, with a camera or not.  No matter how long a guest stays compared to policy there will be an explanation or excuse or expectation that you will look the other way.

Hopefully people understand that with you living next door there will be more enforcement of the rules, but you need to figure out what you can tolerate becuase they are going to push you to the edge and trying to be ultra strict may backfire.  This was hard for me to comes to terms with, that I don't really have very much control over who is in the unit or for how long.  It can drive you crazy if you let it.

[Timothy G Dunson]

Quote from @Michele Fischer:

Are you planning to say that no guests are allowed at all?  I would think that would turn off a lot of applicants, peopel want their own place to have some freedom.  

Any guest policy is very hard to enforce, with a camera or not.  No matter how long a guest stays compared to policy there will be an explanation or excuse or expectation that you will look the other way.

Hopefully people understand that with you living next door there will be more enforcement of the rules, but you need to figure out what you can tolerate becuase they are going to push you to the edge and trying to be ultra strict may backfire.  This was hard for me to comes to terms with, that I don't really have very much control over who is in the unit or for how long.  It can drive you crazy if you let it.

 This is exactly what I was thinking. I house hacked a duplex in south FL and put a ring camera on my side. When I would go overseas I would rent my side on airbnb so I would be able to see all the activity at the front door. It just caused me more stress than I needed to be honest. Watching people leave the doors wide open. Unknown people entering and etc. All it did was cause me stress. It didn't actually solve any problem for me.