House Hacking By Room Rental

[Joshua Hughes]

Hello BP fam! I am a new member and new home owner. I bought a 3B1B looking for clear advise on how to go about renting out the rooms and what to look out for?! I found the house hacking idea off of Bigger Pockets and Youtube. How would I go about screening applicants and collecting payments?

[Ian Jimeno]

Hi @Joshua Hughes,

First of all, congratulations! You're already ahead of the curve of those who don't commit.

There are several places you can look: Zillow Rental Management (I've had solid leads here), Facebook Marketplace (another good one), and Craigslist (you can get weird people). 

No matter where you look and no matter how the potential renters act when they meet you, SCREEN THEM! Credit history, employment history, criminal background, etc. Also, look to see if they are on time to your meetings with you, check how they maintain their car, how they hold themselves, and see what their day-to-day schedule is like. You don't want someone working graveyard shifts if you're working during the day, or maybe you do because you can be quiet around them! I would suggest getting a book like The House Hacking Strategy by Craig Curelop (I'm an agent with The FI Team headed by Craig here in Denver) to help you with that process.

As far as managing your own rental, I go through Apartments.com. It's free, simple, and you can write state-specific leases through it, although BP has some solid places you can get leases as well. You can set up rent, lease terms (annual? month to month?), and even have operational items such as maintenance requests processed through it. Renters can go through Apartments.com as well to pay rent to you. I can't speak on any other platforms just because I haven't used them, but there are several out there! Do your research, of course.

Let me know how it goes! YouTube is a great place to get started as well. Hope this helps.

Ian

[Ryan Thomson]

Congrats @Joshua Hughes

I have had a ton of luck with apartments.com (they bought Cozy). I list my rooms for rent here and then they put the listing on several of their affiliate sites. I get a couple interested leads a day. 

Apartments.com is also where I have tenants fill out a background and credit check, set up automated rent payments, and upload renter's insurance. It's pretty sweet and free for me. 

I also have some nice auto messages I use to do the initial "screen" to save my time from the tire kickers and the "is it still available" annoyers. 

Here is my first message: 

Yes it is! We require a 550+ credit score as well as a current job paystub or a co-signer who meets these requirements. The move in date is December 7th and is a month to month lease at $650/month (not including 50-70 a month for utilities). If all that works for you, when is a good time you can see the house? and what is a good number to reach you?

Here is my second message:

I have a couple questions for you to make sure its a good fit for you. Please answer these then we can go from there: What is your Job? Only you? Pets? Move in date? Estimated length of stay? Any questions for me? --

Sometimes my first message (if they seem more serious and put a little effort into their first response): 

I saw your inquiry for my house at {{address}}. It is still available. Would you like to set up a time to see it? Than I go through those two messages above. 

Tips:

1. great photos

2. good description. be clear what you require to cut down on wasting your time.

3. Pre-screen with email or text before you waste your time showing the room

[Joshua Hughes]

Awesome! Thank you both for all the info-I can definitely use this! :)