House Hacking lease suggestion needed

[Michelle Richardson]

I have single family and multifamily investments and now am purchasing a 4 bedroom home for my son in college to house hack. What would you use for a lease for the parents and other college boys to sign for the other 3 rooms? I have a lease in the MLS, but it's not that great.

[Richard F.]

Aloha,

Of course check local LL/Tenant law, but there is no good reason to use a different basic template for any long term rental. However, when renting individual bedrooms, which will share one or more kitchens, bathrooms, and other common areas, you should identify each bedroom by letter or number on the Rental Agreement, and on or adjacent to, the bedroom entry door.

You also need to have a set of "House Rules" that would apply to everyone, with each receiving a copy. This should cover issues such as shared storage areas (refer, laundry, bathroom, exterior, which should each have identifiable spaces with room number displayed) as well as where storage is NOT allowed. Parking, if available, should be numbered and assigned specifically, or you may have some other system based on limited space. Spell it out.

Be sure to address cleaning responsibilities or schedule; acceptable use of utilities vs. open/closed windows and "personal" refers, cooking appliances, or ac's, in bedrooms; trash receptacle locations and when/how they need to be taken out to rubbish bin and/or set out to the street for pickup. You also want to limit food, food storage, and food garbage within each bedroom.