I want to house-hack a rental. Any advice on risk reduction?

[Jeff Axup]

I live in the Bay Area where rent is sky-high unless you have roommates.

I am currently renting (lease) a house, and act as the “primary contact” for the property manager and “pseudo-landlord” for the other tenants. Technically we are all on the lease, but I have a written agreement with the tenants that they can move out with 30 days notice. The owner knows I have roommates but I am not allowed to formally do a sub-lease.

There are a number of problems with this arrangement, and I am seeking to improve my strategy for the next house I rent:

- If my roommates move out, I am legally liable to pay the lease, which can leave me on the hook for thousands of dollars each month until I find a replacement tenant.

- Sometimes finding replacement roommates can take a month or two to find a good candidate.

- A roommate could theoretically refuse to pay the rent, and I couldn’t kick them out because they are technically on the lease with me.

- Due to the stratospheric cost of houses in the Bay Area, it probably isn’t feasible (or worthwhile) to purchase a house and then rent out extra rooms.

- I have already added an item to the “tenant contract” that uses their deposit to cover 2 weeks of the room being empty should this occur.

There has to be a better way to do this that decreases my risk. Has anyone found a better solution? Ideas I could try?