House hacking by the room? Atlanta

[Sean Chua]

How viable is it to rent by the room in the Atlanta metro area (e.g. Sandy Springs or Brookhaven)? How much is possible to charge for rent? How many bedrooms/bathrooms should I be looking for?

Appreciate any insight!

[Rick Baggenstoss]

@Sean Chua. It's being done all over greater Atlanta.  There's a newer buzzword you my search using -- coliving.  The methods vary from higher end homes in awesome locations with themes like environmentally-focused entrepreneurs chefs kitchen beer and kombucha on tap, to higher end affordable housing like Padsplit, to old-fashioned, student housing, and low end rooming housings. 

Lease terms vary quite a bit too, for example, there are many successful Airbnbs that rent rooms individually for a week at a time.  Down by the airport, turnover is even higher.  I believe there's one with bunks like you find in Japan and San Fran like a zen youth hostel.  Then there are the traditional, one year leases with extensive vetting tenants.

Can you share more about where you are thinking, number of bedrooms (before and after rehab), service level, and finish level?  That'll help folks advise you.  

Search for Coliving and Co-Housing and you'll find some companies, Padsplit, Common, Bungalow,  that enable or do this type of thing.  I'm not suggesting you have to pay for management of the first one, but I think it helps to see what business models are out there.

I have one Padsplit and my first house was a 5BR house hack, a few Airbnbs, and mostly longterm rentals.  I love the co-living model, especially when providing all the amenities, when you want to buy a nicer house and higher rents are required for cash flow.