room by room rentals

[Cassandra Lesa]

My husband and I are about to close on a duplex that were going to house hack in. The rent from the other unit isnt quite enough to cover the mortgage but I think there is potential to use that unit to rent by the room. Are there any laws or things to watch out for when using this rental strategy? I haven't found anything against it, my sister rents by room in a college town. Also any tips that help when renting by the room (where to post the listings, furnished vs unfurnished, etc)  would be greatly appreciated!

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Cassandra Lesa, I think the place to look for legality is probably at the local level. Sometimes municipalities create a local ordinance limiting the number of unrelated people who can live in a single unit. Generally these kinds of ordinances aren't strictly enforced, but if they feel your unit is a nuisance because of noise, drug activity, etc then they might use that type of ordinance against you. So, I would check for that type of ordinance.