Finding QUIET Tenants in a SFH House Hack?

Question

I currently live in an apartment with a roommate, who I've been having noise issues with. I am concerned that when I buy a house and house hack, this will be even worse because I will have not 1 but 2 tenants/roommates. And once I buy a house I am essentially stuck in that for atleast 2+ years(tax reasons), so the househack lifestyle is a much bigger commitment than just living in an apartment.

I'm wondering a few things:

1. What is considered normal noise at night time? After what time is it considered too late to be making said noise?

• Examples: Yelling while playing video games. Going in and out of the kitchen multiple times making food.
• 
• Not only am I a light sleeper, but I work 9-5 and have meetings every morning so this is an important issue to me both quality of life and professionally.

2. How can I ensure that I have tenants that are very quiet? How can I properly screen for this? How many questions is too many questions to ask? (The articles I've read focus more on background checks and making sure tenants have enough $$ for rent, haven't read much on how to find out if they are quiet)

• I "screened" my roommate on this exact topic, but there is a difference between what people *say* and what people actually *DO.* If you tell them its important for it to be quiet at night, and ask if they are quiet, people tend to always say "yes" even if they are not. I've had multiple discussions with him on this, but he continues to do it anyways. Again i'm concerned/"terrified" I am going to have this same problem when I have tenants I live with.
• 
• I think the questions would have to go deeper into things like: What time do you go to bed? What time do you have dinner? Whats your evening routine like? How many hours of sleep do you need?
• These seem oddly specific, but at the same time, they are much better than asking how quiet they are at night. Someone might think they are quiet but then they are staying up till 2 am every night, yelling at video games and making dinner at midnight on the regular, waiting till midnight to start laundry.

3. Are there certain types of units that are better or worse for being quieter? 1 floor vs 2 floors? Location of master bedroom within house? Things to look for/avoid (e.g. carpet vs wood)?

JD Martin · Answer

I've lived everywhere, in almost every kind of situation. Houses, apartments, tent, US Navy warship, condos, etc. Bottom line is if you have other people around you, you are going to have noise in some fashion and there's little you can do about it. I've had all kinds of roommates before and none of them were as quiet or neat as me. And they might say something similar about me. People have different ideas of acceptable conduct, which is why everyone should have their own separate place. If you choose to do any kind of house-hacking with people inside your unit, you'll have to accept that there is some trade-off between making money and living less optimally than you would prefer. You can try advertising for professional roommate, someone who has a similar schedule to you, but you won't have any way of knowing that they can get by on 4 hours sleep and thus be up until 2 AM making sandwiches and playing WoW.

Best bet for a house hack is a side-by-side duplex. That's as close to separate houses as you can get while still being under one roof.

Taylor L. · Answer

If I'm totally honest, this is why I didn't do a house hack. I seriously dislike having roommates, I see the extra cost I bear as justified for my quality of life. It's so much better for me to live with a significant other/family and not a random roommate or two.

I seriously doubt there is a reliable way to screen for that with roommates. An in-law suite with a separate entrance used as a Short term rental/Airbnb may accomplish a similar function of bringing in additional income for you, with the added benefit that you don't have to deal with the same person for a year or more. If someone is loud, you get to give them a bad rating (which is actually important) and they'll be gone pretty quickly anyway.

A separated property would be preferable, as @Twana Rasoul said. If you go for a joined duplex, look up your local laws and codes and put very clear language about quiet hours and noise levels in your lease.

As you've identified, carpet is more sound-deadening than wood.

Twana Rasoul · Answer

@Andrew Bissada sounds like you should focus on getting 2 units on one lot that are separated/not joined for better privacy.

Mike McCarthy · Answer

I agree with the others. You’ll never find the perfect roommate, housemate, tenant, etc. you need to learn to live with them as they will need to learn to live with you.

Heck, I have tenants that drive me crazy and they live 5 miles away! But I see the check (etf) each month, and it makes it worth the little bit of aggravation they cause.

You need to decide what you really want to do and how you can handle it. For me, roommates when I was in my early 20s was great. If I had to do it again now, i would definitely struggle with it. I like the idea of finding a property that works for you. Maybe with a separate entrance, you have more flexibility. Or a ‘mother-daughter’ kind of setup so you have your own bathroom, kitchen, etc. see what’s out there and get what makes sense for you!

Joe P. · Answer

In addition to the ideas posted above, I find most places do not have quality soundproofing/insulation on interior walls. If you are indeed a light sleeper, I think setting expectations early on with prospective candidates is a great idea. I would also seek to do month-to-month leases ONLY with reasonable cancel clauses for both parties. Prior to that, perhaps seek to insulate YOUR area something (spray foam?) before you have someone move in so you're not as affected?

Ultimately, you'll have to ask yourself if you can househack in this type of scenario...I have never had a roommate other than my family growing up and my wife moving in. I'm a bit of a loner and enjoy my personal space/quiet time. You might be the same...if you don't like roommates now, I doubt a househack is in your favor. No amount of financial windfall/savings will make you feel good if you're not living in your best house situation.

Andrew Bissada · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I think it would be helpful to understand someones sleep schedule. Even if they don't stick to it 100%. There is definitely a difference between someone who gets to bed around 10:30-11:30 vs someone who regularly doesn't go to bed till 2 AM every night. In this hypothetical scenario, if I had asked what your sleep schedule is like, would you be comfortable answering that? Or would it still put you off?

I'm also looking into other methods of soundproofing such as:

• Replacing bedroom door with solid core door
• Fill in walls surrounding the bedroom with fiberglass

I am looking more and more into duplexes. Aside from the extra cost, I do have a concern in actually finding one. My realtor sent me a list of all duplexes in the area sold in that last 6 months, there were only 24 of them. That's 4 per month. And in the current market that would be around 3. BUT, *only* 2 of them looked appealing to me. Which means I would maybe only find 1 that I MIGHT possibly like every 3-4 months. That's without even getting to see it. That could take potentially take forever to find one, and win the bid against other competing buyers.

Anna Sagatelova · Answer

House hacking sounds like an attractive strategy financially, but it does require a lot of tolerance and patience for having neighbors or even housemates.

If you have all of these concerns, you would be much better off trying a multi-unit house hack situation than an SFR. You're right that it's impossible to screen for some of these things, and frankly many potential roommates will be turned off by the intensity of the questions. I consider myself a quiet person but I'm not sure I can answer "what time do you go to bed" and then be expected to stick to my answer as long as I live with that person.

JD Martin · Answer

No good way to answer. Depends on the strength of the sound wave, the frequency, the material between the source and the listener, the proximity of the listener to the source, etc. Solid materials transmit sound vibration, so noise made in one room will vibrate sheetrock, which will vibrate 2x4s which will vibrate your sheetrock, which will then vibrate the air. How much it does depends on a lot of factors. Empty air spaces act as amplifiers of sound, so you would want a thick and continual mass of insulation in the wall. The best setup would involve a double-wall with a dead air space in between full of insulation, such that vibration from one room would die in the insulated mass in the dead air space and be unable to vibrate your hard materials. If you are building or remodeling, that's the way to go. If not, you can hang heavy soft materials on your common wall and it will do a surprising good job. This is essentially what is done in music studios.

Andrew Bissada · Answer

Yep, knowing when they go to bed would be helpful.

With side-by-side duplexes, how much noise can you hear through the wall? Can you hear things like opening microwave doors, or does it have to be something like pumping music or yelling?

Andrew Bissada · Answer

Thanks Joe. I like the idea of month-to-month so I can get rid of someone sooner if they are a problem. Do you have any suggestions for doing a better job of screening? Like I said, people tend to always want to answer in the affirmative. I think its finding out the nuances that matter (e.g. what do you consider as appropriate noise during quiet hours?)

Finding QUIET Tenants in a SFH House Hack?

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