6 beds Duplex Renting out by the Rooms

[Tony H.]

Hi BP!,

I have been learning a lot lately from the community. Although, I am still in the search for the right first rental property for me, I went ahead and imagine different scenarios in my head.

I read multiple discussions, but I can't seem to find the exact answer to my questions. (I apologize if this has been discussed somewhere, please point me to that discussion).

So, there is this Duplex in Sacramento, CA (2 units of 3/1). It's about 10 mins from a local city college. The school district in the area is well below average. I imagine this won't attract families with kids. (or maybe I am wrong?)

The estimated the average rent price for a 3/1 in the area is about $1200/month. Meaning I will only get $2400/month Gross total.

However, I came across an idea of renting out the rooms individually. Like $500 each for a total of $3000/month. 

Questions:

1. Where do I find out whether or not this is legal in Sacramento, CA? Is there a website where I can read about this?

2. If i decide to do this and if it is legal, I am planning to mark each room like A, B, C, D, E, F. Each tenant will have separate lease indicating the room that they are renting for. Is this a good way to do this? I understand that if 5 out 6 tenants move out, 1 tenant won't be responsible for the whole unit. If this happens, then it will just be my loss and poor business strategy. 

3. If anyone needs to be evicted, how is this strategy going to put me at a bad spot?

4. As for Deposit, I am planning to have them pay 1 month rent to cover damages in their specific room and "common/shared" area. I understand it's hard to fairly calculate for the shared area. But, here is my idea:

- When a tenant move out, I will assess the damage in the shared area and get an idea of how much it cost to restore it. That cost will then be split into 3 and deducted from the tenant's deposit. 

- Now, I will not have to necessarily repair/restore it right away. I will keep the deposit money and use it to restore at a later date when all tenants move out.

Is this legal?

Thanks all! Hopefully i can get some answers and learn more.

Tony