Roommate advice H

[Ephrem Bekere]

Not sure if this is the right forum but I just bought a single family to house hack using fha in Lancaster City, PA area and I'm looking for roommates. What are your screening tips and any other advice you might have for me? How do I know how much to charge people for a room? Thanks in advance!

[Alek Liskov]

Hi @Ephrem Bekere welcome and congrats on the purchase! It's a good way to get started. 

Screening tips: 

it really depends on what you are looking for: party buddies? quiet? I think in your situation that would be important. Irrespective of whether they're a student or a working professional professional I would recommend a credit and background check. As far as your credit criteria, it really depends on the market. If it's college students, then it'll have to be lower. If it's professionals, then perhaps higher. In my mind, a background check is just a no-brainer. You're gonna be living with these people! You can include the fee required in the application fee.  

How much to charge:

Check craigslist. Check Zillow. Ask around. Call a couple of management companies in your area and pretend you're looking for something similar. Gather at least a few data points to be able to create a good hypothesis. Keep in mind that price and interest in your property are inversely correlated - the higher the price, usually the lower the interest. So if you're not getting the number of calls you expected to be getting, then perhaps you're charging a bit too much. Also - Facebook. I am sure you have a lot of friends. Offer a $50/$100 referral fee for anyone who finds you a tenant. 

If you could shed some more light on what you situation is and who is your "ideal" roommate I can try to help.

Best of luck!

Alek

[Ben Leybovich]

I'd say it has to be a girl, and she has to be pretty...no? hahah

[Tyler Heard]

Mr. Leybovich you're truly an inspiration to me but tell me you didn't come up with that joke in the shower

[Ben Leybovich]

Originally posted by @Tyler Heard:

Mr. Leybovich you're truly an inspiration to me but tell me you didn't come up with that joke in the shower

 Haha Nope. I'd just come out of the shower. Explains why it's not my best...

[Tyler Heard]

Mr. Leybovich you're truly an inspiration to me but tell me you didn't come up with that joke in the shower

[Ron Orr]

You can use Craigslist and treat it like you would comps just to see what pricing is. Longer ads will qualify them a lot more for you. Make sure they are clean people with a stable income.

[Mike Hottinga]

Things to consider living with roommates: -door locks with different keys on all rooms (I like to know they cant walk in and murder me or steal things. Vise versa) Have a copy of each just in case. -in my house in AZ I learned the AC doesn't work with the doors shut, I installed vents for air circulation. -be EXTEREMLY selective who you choose. (I am a pretty clean and go to bed early, a roommate that is a party slob would be a nightmare in my own home.) -month to month for first year in case things go south or they are not who they said they are. -if sharing food in the fridge/kitchen is a problem, put a mini fridge in their room and tell the to keep their stuff in there. -define in the lease that they must supply their own consumables like tp, hand soap, laundry soap, etc. -I split all utilities equally between all roommates so everyone has skin in the game. In AZ electric can run $300-500/month in summer and $50/month in winter. If they demand flat rate you better believe they will be paying ALOT more for that convenience. -if roommates share a bathroom think about wrapping a cleaning service into the cost for avoid the complaining that WILL come. Possibly into the whole house? That is all I have for now.

[Mike Hottinga]

Posting on mobile device is harder than I thought, sorry for the messy above post. I screen roommates harder than ordinary tenants. Imagine trying to evict a roommate from your own home, you see them every day. Background checks Credit checks Call references (personal, work, facebook profile)

[Ephrem Bekere]

@Alek Liskov Thanks so much for the advice, I appreciate it greatly. I'm a college student and looking for young people around my age to rent too. I'll definitely look into what you said 

[Ephrem Bekere]

Hey @Mike Hottinga thanks for the tips. You just gave a lot list of ideas man thanks 

[Account Closed]

I think the best thing you can do, other than good screening, is to have month to month agreements.  That way, you can just give 30 days notice to end a tenancy, as well as 30 days notice to change any rules, etc.

The things that usually wreck roommate situations is unwanted guests, not cleaning up after themselves, messing with thermostats, stealing food.

Some of those things can be pretty easily dealt with - like including a weekly cleaning service in the rent, putting little apartment fridges in the rooms.

But, inevitably, there will be a roommate who you will want to get rid of, so having month to month agreements is the easiest way to get rid of them.  Evictions are a pain, and proving the grounds to evict are a pain.  So, just leave yourself the 30 day notice option.  Way easier.