House Hack - Month-to-month or Term Lease Agreement?

Question

When House Hacking a single-family home is there any benefit from a landlord's perspective to put a tenant on a month-to-month lease compared to a 6 or 12 month lease?

Also, any recommendations on the best resources to get a North Carolina lease agreement would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help.

Craig Curelop · Answer

@Will Cline - When house hacking the benefit of a month to month lease is that you can kick anyone out (aka not renew) any lease with just 30 days notice. That way if tenants are not getting along or you don't like one of them, you can ask them to leave without eviction.

Also, there is a psychology behind it too. In many cases, the month to month folks end up staying for longer than the long term folks. The reason for this is because the month to month people can always move "next month" whereas the longer term would have to wait a full year before having the option to move again.

Ana Coello · Answer

That questions is open for anyone...sorry..

Ana Coello · Answer

@Craig Curelop but is there any downside, let's say in taxes, when doing month to month? Don't lenders want to see 1 year leases? Or would these month-to-month be somehow STR income? Im thinking for the next step, when buying the next house...

Will Cline · Answer

@Craig Curelop Do you recommend house hack landlords use a property management software such as Cozy or Avail? I've read a lot of good reviews about Cozy but I like that Avail has a lease generator, allows E-Signatures, and syndicates to more listing services.

Will Cline · Answer

@Alex Olson I like that option if you find a good tenant and it still provides flexibility, thanks.

Alex Olson · Answer

@Will Cline You can do month to month for the first 3 and then see if they want to do a 6 month lease with revolving 90 day outs. This assumes you get a long with them ok.

Will Cline · Answer

@Craig Curelop @Kyle J. Thank you both for the feedback. I will definitely have my tenant on a month to month.

Kyle J. · Answer

If I was going to "house hack" a single family home where I'm living under the same roof with the tenant, personally I would ONLY consider offering month-to-month.  If it didn't work out and our personalities clashed or the person turned out to be a weirdo, I would not want that person to have a long-term lease.

It's bad enough if they're renting a separate property from you.  It'd be a whole lot worse if you have to share a kitchen and bathroom with that person and things go bad (or worse, you had to evict them).  Awkward.

House Hack - Month-to-month or Term Lease Agreement?

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