Renting Individual Rooms

[Rosston Smith]

Does anyone have any experience renting out rooms with friends/people you know?

I have a Duplex. One side is a 4/2, other is a 1/1. I'll be renting out the 1/1, and living in the 4/2 and am considering renting out the other rooms to friends for some significant extra $$$.

Has anyone had an experience doing this and do you have any recommendations?

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Cameron Tope:

@Account Closed

@Account Closed I agree that your friends and family may get mad...if you don't treat it up front like a business transaction. If you act like you are doing them a favor you are setting yourself up for headaches.

 People are funny, though.  Even when I was a resident manager, if I socialized in any way with a tenant - become a walking buddy, go have a glass of wine, etc., they always, without fail, wanted some special favor and I'd have to say no.  And it never mattered how I explained why I couldn't do something or how nicely I said it, the relationship was not friendly after that.  And only on their end.

They would come to me and complain that so and so parks all crooked, or so and so has loud sex that wakes them up and I need to make them stop it, or they wanted permission to have a washer/dryer even if they weren't allowed because of the old plumbing system, or they wanted to let their relatives park in our parking lot and take the shuttle to the airport and leave their car in our lot while they went on vacation.

It's just guaranteed that they will expect and ask for favors, that they would never expect or ask for - if the relationship was never ever perceived as a "friend" relationship.  Once people put you in that category in their minds, things change.  And then they get mad at you for not being a good friend.  Their minds can't seem to categorize the difference, when you have to put on your landlord hat.

Now, maybe there's some sociopath out there who would be the exception LOL, but that was my experience.