renting single rooms Pro&Cons - Landlord Forum thread 324570

renting single rooms Pro&Cons by Barb (NC) on September 16, 2014 @20:03

Security is always a issues when strangers share a house that has common area. How can I screen a person for a room for 1 day stay or several days? I am new in renting out single furnished rooms please advise.

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Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons by Anonymous on September 16, 2014 @20:38	[ Reply ]

Is this in your own personal home, or in another rental property, such as a 4 bdrm single family home maybe near a college ?

Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons

Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons by anon on September 17, 2014 @03:11	[ Reply ]

Are you saying that you do not have enough income to continue to live in your house without renting out rooms? If so you can discriminate in selecting your roommates. You should do extensive screening on applicants. You are new to this. Consider education/training, and hiring a limited property manager.

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Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons by K (FL) on September 17, 2014 @08:30	[ Reply ]

check out Airbnb

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Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons by Katiekate (New York) on September 17, 2014 @13:37	[ Reply ]

My experience has been that renting for a period less than one week means you are getting someone looking for a party house and the destruction will far exceed your income. They damage is done, the police called, the other roommates mad as h3ll, and they blow out of town before you can do anything about it. As for renting for a week....charge like a motel. Get $250 per week and make sure you write the lease for that period of time and that future rent must be paid i advance or the possessions will be removed (just in a motel). The biggest issue you will have is that the other roommates are not going to like this. No one wants to share common area with a transient.

Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons by Kim (WV) on September 17, 2014 @20:44	[ Reply ]

I'm guessing since you said NC and military town, this investment property might be in Fayetteville near Fort Bragg and Pope Air Base? I know there are other large bases in NC (Camp LeJeune, Cherry Point, Seymour Johnson, and New River) but I think Fort Bragg/Pope might be the largest. Anyway, if you are renting short term in a military town, it's likely you might get lots of young guys who want a place off base for a few nights or a week or so to get out of the barracks and let off a little steam. You know, spend private time with their girlfriend, party with their friends, etc. I'm sure not all will be like that, but the ones that are like that might drive your longer term tenants nuts. If the rental is in the Fayetteville area, you may be dealing with a lot of special forces type military. Some of those young guys are beyond arrogant and think they are bulletproof. Those are the ones who will give you the most trouble, probably. However, if you want to proceed, do your screening by getting a copy of their military ID and take down the information on their unit and commanding officer (CO). Be sure to verify they give you the correct unit and CO and get the phone numbers. Have the after hours phone number for the command handy. Make them give you a copy of their current military orders, especially if they are coming to or leaving the area. The information on those orders will enable you to verify their unit, name, etc. If you have any trouble with them, a phone call to their commanding officer should get them out of your hair ASAP. I would suspect (I spent 17 years in Navy and husband spent 26 in the Air Force so I'm not slamming the military, just speaking the truth as I know it) if young military guys are like they were when I was in, your rooms may sustain a fair amount of damage from time to time and the other tenants may complain. But it might work out. You might get the older crowd who are well behaved and just looking to get away from the young punks. It depends on your price point and on how you market the place and how you screen. I wouldn't do anything less than a week. I'd get a damage deposit, like KatieKate said, equal to one rental period. Good luck! Please let us know how it works out. I'm always curious about how these things actually turn out!

Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons

Re: renting single rooms Pro&Cons by Anonymous on September 18, 2014 @01:37	[ Reply ]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but even people that you screen can be child abusers, have an untreated mental illnes, have slob tendencies, etc. This is where an experienced landlord uses a smell test. A smell test can give you some idea of what the person is like, and can be paired with the credit check and the background check to determine the best prospective tenant. That is why hotel rooms monitor the common area as well as they can........leave one day rental setups to the hotel chains.