Raelene Cunnick: 2
Monty Sieloff: Let me start by saying, "There is hope!"It seems that 90% of the people I have spoken to and heard from have a roommate horror story to tell. Even when you have interviewed, done a thorough background check and vetted the applicant completely, there always seems to be something that crops up later on, something you just can't screen for. And, in my experience, you don't find out about those things until about the 3rd week into your living arrangement. By that time the honeymoon period is over and that's when dishes start to pile up in the sink, stuff gets left lying around and your house rules start to be broken more and more frequently. Just like "MyHandsAreMadeOfPasta" says below, "So I decided to not rent the room out and just rent the place by myself." Admittedly, this was once the only safe way to go.However, a couple of years ago I discovered vacation rentals. In fact, they are not just for renting a whole house but also for ! renting individual rooms in your house. There are so many great reasons for renting this way.1. You get complete say over who stays at your place and you always have the right to say "NO!"2. By limiting the stay to 21 days or less, you stay within the "honeymoon" period, before the attitude of gratitude wears off.3. Each guest receives a public review from you after they stay. You review them on Communication, Cleanliness and How well they followed your house rules. They know that if they get a bad review from you, they will not be able to stay with anyone else afterward so this ensures that they are always on their best behavior.4. If by chance a nut gets through, you only have to put up with them for 3 weeks (or less depending on the limit you set for your maximum stay.)5. Marketing, tenant screening and payment are handled for you! All you do is respond by email to requests to stay.6. Because payment is handled for you, it keeps your relationship on the level of host an! d guest rather than landlord and tenant. Ahhhh!7. Your address! and identity are not shared until the new tenants have paid in full in advance. 8. Payment is deposited directly to your account 24 hours after the guest's stay begins. You have no credit cards to charge, no cash to collect, no currency conversions to worry about, if they happen to be from another country.9. By meeting people from around the world, you will build rich relationships with so many interesting people, who knows what doors might open because of them.10. And last but not least, when you have high turnover, you also make a ton more money. Guests who pay by the night typically pay 3 times what you would get from a steady long-term roommate.I hope this has been helpful and you will consider renting to vacationing guests as an alternative to a long-term roommate. Why not eliminate the drama and increase your income at the same time? Give it a try....Show more
Emile Okafor: I attempted to rent out a room in a large house I rented years ago. I'd been a renter ! for years so I knew that side to it, been friends with a few landlords/supers over the years so I'd heard some things, been in management for years so I had a business side to me and have always been mature enough to handle people/issues throughout my life. With all these things I thought the odds would be in my favor. I placed a nice ad in the paper with a very very attractive monthly rent rate but the caveat being they had to pay a deposit plus a 1st AND last month's rent. Since the regular rent was pretty competitive I thought these requirements weren't asking too much and it would weed out some of the potential bad renters. Man, was I in for a surprise!I got a lot of responses to my ad, that was good. The bad thing was not a single one of them were good potential renters through just our conversations on the phone! No, I'm not overly picky and I have no prejudices. What I was getting was every crazy drama-laiden or piss-poor soul on the planet calling me! There ! were women trying to plan a getaway from their crazy husband AND they d! idn't have the money for all the deposits let alone the regular rent. There were kids barely in their 20s either just starting their job or with no job wondering if I could accept payment by the week with a little extra to put toward the deposit....please!!! There was a crazy old wheelchair bound woman looking for a wheelchair accessible place (mine wasn't) and asking if I could help her get around town to her things (I didn't advertise that, I only advertised a room to rent, why would you ask that?). There were young couples with small children and/or tons of animals (ummm this was a ROOM to rent...can't people read a 25 word ad these days?). Well, you get the picture. It was a horrible experience. I took the ad off for a few weeks then tried again the following month only to get more of the same. So I decided to not rent the room out and just rent the place by myself. This is how bad it can be even before allowing the crazies into the doorway! You better have a t! on of experience behind you and a strong will to keep things right in such a situation or you will be taken advantage of before you even know it. If I were you I'd just not rent it out. Next year, find a roommate that you can sign a lease with on a place. Yes, even they could be terrible but at least you'd be a little more covered legally in case something does go wrong. It's a little harder to do when you sublease a room out of a place unless you have a solid written legal agreement set up. Just like looking for a mate in life, you have to search through tons of people to find a decent room mate. Not easy to do. Good luck....Show more
Andre Winegar: I have had horrible experiences with it. Either they don't pay, they scratch up your non-stick cookware, they let their girlfriends spend the night, or something else you just hate. That has all been with former friends. I think I would be scared to allow a complete stranger to live in my home.
Barton Seas! e: Rent-To-Own Homes - http://RentToOwnHome.uzaev.com/?aUil
Lucil! le Saetteurn: as with anything to do with strangers there is always a risk, but the majority of people are pretty pleasant and respectable, The Good :you will earn abit extra money, but make sure that this covers a possible Jump in bills such as electricity and gas as he/she will be a lodger with free will to use your stuff, also a lodger can turn out to be a great person to talk to and you may just make yourself a friend for life, but alos when they rent a room from you you need to give them privacy, I'd recommend never going in there unless invited, anything you need to put in there just leave outside the door.alot of people find that there lodgers are out of the house all day and only come back late at night so this could be a good thing.The Bad:you may find yourself in an unfortunate place where you have a friend who is lodging with you, and friends take things for granted, such as paying rent late, or not at all, you need to be stern with the rent, if the person who is! Lodging begins to take the pi*s don't hesitate to give them there notice and show them the door, you may also have a lodger who use good awful amounts of Electricity, gas and has a tendency to leave everything a mess, Make sure you set up some ground rules BEFORE they move in!The Ugly:you may end up with a looney living with you so be sure to vet them properly before you let them live with you especially if you have children, cause anyone can be a perve*t these days... i'd recommend asking them to submit to a Background check before they lodge.you may also live with a thief, so if you notice things start to go missing make sure your 100% sure that they have gone missing before you mention this to the lodger....Show more
Charis Deguzman: I rented a room out to a close friend before. She and I were pretty close and she wanted to get away from her nutty family. I wish I'd figured that since they're all related, she's just as nutty as they are! Anyways, she was great ! about paying rent on time - but she didn't follow the biggest rule of t! he house. The biggest rule was that you can't leave any type of food or drink sitting out. Why? We lived in an area that would easily be infested with ants within a day of leaving stuff out. I'd seen her room at her parents, and it was a bit cluttered and messy. She said since she spent so much time with me, she never had the time to clean it. I believed her since we did hang out a lot, and worked the same night shift at work.At one point, I walked into her room one time to ask her a question, and her room was filled with Walmart bags filled with plastic bottles and half full cups of soda. There were also fast food bags all over. I started to grab all the bags and she screamed at me to leave them where they were. An argument followed about me invading her private space, and her destroying my home. Needless to say she was booted out soon after. That room, once all her junk was gone, was gross. The floor had odd stains, the walls had splashes of stuff on them, and! the floor was CRAWLING with ants. The rest of the house was untouched, but that room...ugh.Beware! If you interview someone, and they come to your house to see the room - examine every detail of their appearance (dressed raggedy, dirty clothes, trash spilling out of pockets or bag they brought with). Don't forget smell (yeah, smell). I hate smoke, and I can smell it on anyone who comes close. Questions about their lifestyle (drinkers, partyers, relationships) can give you hints on problems. Offer them a drink - "milk, water, juice, wine, corona, etc" "Yah, I'll have a beer" = WARNING unless you're into that sort of thing....Show more
No comments:
Post a Comment