All Forum Posts by: Jasmine Calin

Hi @Grayson Muehlstein! Welcome to the house hack world. It is awesome! I did my first house hack in Charlotte, NC. I agree with @Connor Anderson that it works best in bigger cities, particularly big cities with higher rent. Regardless, I think the advice @Andrew Powers gave is spot on. 

I would add a few more tips: 

• In addition to Craigslist, search Facebook for groups created around finding housing in your area. For instance, I joined a group called Charlotte Housing, Room, Apartments, Sublets and I get altered anytime someone posts in there. If I have a room available, I message them directly. I also post my availabilities on the page and people will reach out to me.
• Think through your role as landlord vs roommate. I have both a lease agreement that I use as my landlord document and a roommate agreement that I use as a roommate. The lease agreement is a normal residential lease agreement provided by the NC Association of Realtors. It covers me just as it would a normal landlord. The roommate agreement is because I have to live with these folks! Lol it is still legally binding but covers much more of the informal like common areas, cleaning expectations, not stealing each others food, etc.
• Read books on how to be a landlord. It will help a lot since house hacking may just be the first step in your landlord career (as it is for most of us). Once you go beyond one property, you become a regular-ol’ landlord! Starting out that way from the get really helps you work out the kinks before turning the property over to tenants. I read The Book on Managing Rental Properties – it has become my reference guide. I got it from the library first, read it and then bought it, it was so helpful!
• Watch this BP podcast on house hacking, lots of good advice from Todd. (Haha, sounds like I am a BP spokesperson, which I assure you, I am not)
• Lastly, in my experience, knowing your market and the type of renters that look for rooms to rent is helpful. There are those in a hurry because (at least in NC) month-to-month leases will only be given 7 days notice (yikes!). There are those planning ahead who just want to save some money. I have had many reach out who were just in a living situation they can't be in anymore (breakup, roommate leaves unexpectedly, transitioning to the area). Get to know the type of people in your market by having a pre-screening call for every tenant interested. When somebody asked me to view the property, I respond by saying, "I would love for you to view the property. Prior to viewing the property let's schedule a phone call so I can answer any questions and share more about the qualifications. When is a good time to reach you?" If you want to hear more about how that call goes, feel free to reach out. 

Good luck!

@Account Closed How do you collect the application fee?

@Grace Wang I posted it on my business page and I believe on the Marketplace but I am going to check. As far as the office space idea, that is so smart. The garage I am in the process of converting is perfect for that. 

Awesome, @Andrew Powers! I hope your business is thriving. I will add that to my ads, great way to help them see the value in it. Do you let folks view the property before applying? I may have more questions for you later, thanks for chiming in! 

@Account Closed When you do the background check, are you charging an application fee for it? 

@Robi Schreckhise, I landlord from afar (I live in Miami, property is in Charlotte) and have zero experience in short term renting. I hadn't thought of that probably because I didn't think it was an option. Within the year, I am going to convert the garage into a studio so I may need to consider that option! Thanks, that is an exciting new venture! 

@Account Closed Thanks for the response! I am wanting to do it myself so I can learn (so when I am ready to get a PM company, I have a sense of that the job entails). Currently my criteria is 3xs the monthly rent and 600+ credit score. I am in the market for a bi-monthly cleaner, please send that over! 

Thank you for the input, @Sarah Brown! I have tried rent prep. I don't think I have enough units to make it worth it just yet (I still have time to screen them on my own and such) but I will look into other deals and the criteria other landlords are asking for in the area! Thanks 

Hey @Jerry Mical, there is already a low inventory of MFs in Charlotte, making it difficult to find them. I have had a good experience thus far. I bought a home in 2017 and began renting out the whole house to a family while I moved to Miami (so I landlord from a distance). In 2018 I transitioned to the rent by room strategy. So the home has been through many phases! With my rent by room, it has been learning bit by bit as I go. I started off with the basics to cover me - everyone on their own lease, made sure I had the correct insurance, and went from there. In the last year, I have run into some issues that I will be addressing moving forward: 

1) How to advertise to and vet potentially tenants (hence this post) 

2) What to do with the security deposit for the common area with people leaving at different times 

3) I will be getting a cleaner! Like most posts on this say, that is the biggest headache my tenants give me

Wonderful community! I have a question - I rent by room in the Charlotte area and up until this point, I have rented all my rooms through referral and my tenants bringing me qualified folks (I've been very lucky). I have a vacant room now and for the first time I have taken to the internet to advertise. I posted on Facebook, put my room for rent on Hotpads, posted on Craigslist, and I have gotten a lot of interest. However, no one is applying. I was wondering if anyone does the rent by room and how you vet tenants. It seems that the application process is pushing folks away. They either know they won't qualify or they don't want to go through the hassle.