Collecting House Hacking Rents

[James R Gleason II]

My first post on BP!

I am currently under contract for a SFR that is a 4 bed 2 bath and am looking to house hack. I've run all of my numbers and am happy with how everything looks. However, I am looking for some advice from those who have house hacked themselves for collecting monthly payments. I'm very open to suggestions as I haven't made a decision yet.

What have you found to work best to keep a healthy relationship with the tenants/roommates that I rent the rooms out to and collecting their payments each month? Especially with apps such as Venmo that can make things as simple as sending a request to the tenants at the beginning of the month.

Look forward to hearing your suggestions! Thank you,!

[Deanna McCormick]

You can search some other posts on BP for roommate rentals to get additional ideas.

Basically I'd keep everyone on Month to Month terms, I'd put the electronic combo locks on the doors to the bedrooms so they have ability to lock the rooms. For legal purposes if you have a eviction the rooms need to be numbered, so keep that in mind.

Shared type of roommate agreement for common areas, regarding cleaning, trash removal, laundry area, and overnight guests, and extra storage, also X marks the spot where you will park !!.. you can google roommate agreements, for a template for ideas.

Get a deposit take photo's of interior of each space before renting. Section off cabinets in kitchen so each person has their own cabinet area, and shelf in fridge.. If they put a fridge in their room charge them extra for power usage. 

Utilities are a issue so shared cable, electric, should be figured out and included with rent so your covered for costs.. 

Don't consider using a basement unless it has egress windows, proper emergency exits.

Smoke detectors in all bedrooms.

Your neighbors may not appreciate your number of roommates so keep it on the down low, no yard parties or noisy stuff outdoors.