I'm stuck. Right now I live in an owner occupied unit which is the main house on a property with a tenant back in a smaller cottage on the same property. She has live there a couple of years and I have not raised the rent. Right now I wanting to move back into the smaller unit and rent out the main house I'm currently living in so I can command a higher rent for the larger unit so that I can start aggressively continue to pay down my HELOC.
Another reason I want to get back into the smaller cottage is because it is in dire need of some major renovations like new siding and windows, etc. I cannot do anything on that level if she is living back there. My initial thought was to raise the rent really high since it is an owner occupied unit and there is not rent control under that umbrella but a quick chat with my lawyer dissuaded me from doing that. He suggested that since I need to do major repairs, just inform her of that and get a permit for the work. I told him I didn't quite have the financing for the work at this time. He said get it anyway and just present it to her. This is the more logical thing to do since it is what really needs to happen. The problem is, I don't quite have the funding yet for the repairs. However, if I lived in it, I could have a little bit done at a time and on my own timeline and budget.
The tenant has expressed her fondness for the place unfortunately and wants to try and press me for timelines and her desire to move back in. I really don't know what to do but in the mean time I am giving her 30 day notice of a 9.9% rent increase in the next 30 days to get the place up to market rent.
Any and all feedback is welcomed.
Cheers BPers!
