Thoughts on having a roommate in your own house? (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

I myself am currently in the midst of an absolutely horrid roommate situation. He comes in drunk and sometimes disorderly at four in the morning and blasts rap music at all hours of the day. He also squirms his way out of any attempts I make to confront him about it. This has resulted in an absolutely horrid state of mind and an average night's sleep of less than six hours. Fortunately, my lease is up a week from Wednesday and then I'm gone permenantly, but after two abysmal roommates I have a couple suggestions that would have made my experience ten times better:
1) Before he/she even moves in, law down the law. What times do you need for quiet hours? What does quiet hours entail. Are there volume restrictions on music or television? Do you share belongings and consumables, or would you prefer each person's stuff remain seperate? Are there bathroom rules that need to be in place? Are there limits as to how many guests and when? How will the parking situation work? If you can come to an agreement about these things straight off the bat and formalize them, it will make your life a whole lot easier. I didn't have such an agreement with my current roommate and that's become the root of my problem. Likewise, don't try to be polite and generous about it. I was to wishy-washy with my first roommate agreement, and paid dearly for it as a result. Don't assume that people behave with the same sense of courtesy that you do. Other people have different expectations and some are just oblivious to the needs of anyone but themselves.
2) Make sure you have a way to terminate the lease is a satisfactory way before you sign them up. A friend of my who leased the other half of his duplex before he died had a hell of a time evicting a family, and when he finally did they turned around a sued him after causing considerable property damage. Protect yourself.

Despite all of that doom and gloom, I'm confident that you can still make it a net-positive experience. Just make sure you take the necessary precautions beforehand so that once they're moved in it will all be smooth sailing.

 

[DaveF]

Nope. I checked with my accountant, and that's incorrect. The depreciation is captured at sale as modification to the basis of the house, and any relative capital gain is taxed accordingly. It defers, and possibly lowers, the taxes, but doesn't mitigate them :frowning:

Adam - sorry to hear about your abysmal roommate. But your suggestions are helpful. I'll work them into my interview / referral check.

I'm also concerned about the live-in girlfriend problem. I've had friends suffer through that, and I want to protect myself (or get more rent money) should that happen.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Perhaps you could set up a 3 month renewal contract. You renew the agreement every three months, but also have the option to terminate it on the anniversary, with a certain timeframe for vacancy. I would specify that there are NO extra tenants allowed, which is sure to be an issue with "sleepover" friends. Depending on how your house is set up, it may not be a big deal when the girlfriend all but moves in, but in my one bathroom home it became a MAJOR issue when that bathroom was occupied for extended periods for "recreational use", when other members of the household (me) were in need of its facilities for more practical purposes.

 

[Mark Romero]

One other thing to consider is whether or not you have a Homeowner's Association. I had one in a townhouse complex I lived in years ago that did not allow having renters/transients. My next door neighbor had 2 renters, I wrote the Association about it, and a few months later he had to move because he couldn't afford to live there without renters. I felt bad because I basically kicked the guy out of his house but he knew the rules.

 

[DaveF]

For rental terms, I would probably have a 12-mo, with 30 days notice by either party. I would also include some language about persistent "guests".

The neighborhood has a covenant, but there are no associate dues. I was re-reading the rules this weekend, but I forgot to double-check for rules on tenants.

Even were there rules, given my neighbors, I don't think it would be a problem.