Advice on Renting out a Room/Housesharing

[HotAe92]

Hi All,

Long story short, recently split up with missus, currently living in the place I own but being a 4x2 - it's almost too big for one person. Keen to get someone in to rent a furnished room at the back of the house for company and also help out with day to day living expenses/mortgage.

I have someone lined up to rent the room, but as I haven't houseshared before (other than my partner) and also being the owner of the house, I'm keen to hear of any advice from people who have been down this road before (i.e. bond/rent up front, conditions, what to look out for etc.).

I'm a pretty easy going and tolerant person, but whilst still dealing with the split, I want to ensure I protect/prevent myself from being screwed.

Thanks in advance.
J

[HANS YOLO]

find a cleaner...split the costs

when you find said cleaner, send me the details...im still hunting!

[Damo 69]

Bond
Rent 2 weeks in advance at all times
list of house rules / expectations

all agreed in writing / email whatever.

[Damo 69]

also photograph the fuck out of their room for damage / wear and tear

[TJ]

If female, Webcam in the bathrooms

[MadDocker]

Don't house share with a hot woman unless you want a revolving door of random guys coming through your house on the weekends and late rent.

[disc0-dan]

Don't house share with a hot woman unless you want a revolving door of random guys coming through your house on the weekends and late rent.

OORRRRR start taking a cut of their profits, buy a big fuck off hat with a feather in it, a fur coat and a fucking cane! Walk around the place with a limp calling them ya bitches.

[Macca]

Don't tell them you own it. Tell them a relative does.

[volt_bite]

OORRRRR start taking a cut of their profits, buy a big fuck off hat with a feather in it, a fur coat and a fucking cane! Walk around the place with a limp calling them ya bitches.

Except if you are a lonely fucker, you'll probably just cash in the sex for rent, and then she'll leave with half because now you're in a defacto relationship.

[Adr3naL1N]

Done same as you

get a decent bond. $1000-1500
do up a short contract - get someone to help you if need be
make them sign it
rent paid fortnightly in advanced
take photos of room before
just make sure everything is clear in the contract and you shouldn't have any problems.
don't give bond back until fully moved out and everything is in the state it was before they moved in or deduct any repairs needed from bond (state this in contract too)

I did all this never had a problem

[crabman]

A mate struck lucky on flatmates.com.au after a few applied. Apart from her going through like 10 different guys a week and be a flat out screamer. She finally found the one and calmed down though.

[EVLO]

does ex jointly own the house with you? If so is she entitled to half the rent etc anyone will pay?

[Damo 69]

I had alot of mongs through gumtree and flatmate.com etc took near on 3 months to find someone suitable was about to pull the add as i was just getting retards or like young families (WTF its an apartment)

[HotAe92]

No I own the house wholly. Thanks for the advice so far.

The potential housemate is a single mum in her mid 20's, child currently under the custody of the father for 12 months so she can 'progress further with her career', so the kid will only be around every 2nd weekend. Not hugely phased with this as I'm not really around the house alot on the weekends anyway.
She came around the other day and I quizzed her out about a few different aspects of her living situation (i.e. the custody, father, work etc) and seems to be honest, upfront and easy enough to make conversation with. The plan is for 6 month stay, which suits me as I plan on moving in with a mate of mine around March 2016.

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but it's clear that she's hard up for cash (cars a bit worse for wear), so I think asking for a large bond will be out of the question.

[MadDocker]

Oh shit... Getting a struggling single mother in. Brave man.

Beware the fighting with ex. and trying to shack up with you when she sees you are reasonably well off and can provide for her and her child moves.

Seriously though, without being a dick. Hope it works out for you. Sometimes doing a good deed and helping out people that need it works out for the best.

[Damo 69]

yeah fuck that

[Lasoya]

I've currently got 2 housemates sharing with me in the house i own. 1 female and 1 male. The female is a property manager for LJ Hooker so helps out alot with the contract side of things :). I didn't ask for bond just money up front.

[HotAe92]

Seriously though, without being a dick. Hope it works out for you. Sometimes doing a good deed and helping out people that need it works out for the best.

Oh I haven't hit the go button yet, hence why I'm here asking questions.

My gutfeel is on the fence at the moment. Having a chat with some close friends tonight then will make a decision, though I think I'll err on the side of caution.

[MadDocker]

In that case, don't do it you stupid bastard. Keep looking.

[Philbo]

We had good and bad success with Flatmates.com.au first one didn't mesh well with the missus and wouldn't interact with us on anything. Lied about smoking also (pet peeve) also insisted that she wanted a garage space (we already have two cars) I said it's not possible she demanded so thought let it slide. Then she stopped paying rent. That's it GTFO. Current one is alot nicer more friendly get's on with me and the missus pays rent two weeks in advance and is a country chick alot nicer all round and leaves her car over the road :) So I gain the garage back again. Wrote our a whole Different Lease since from the first experience can email you a copy if you like.

Cheers Phil

[Phildo]

- References - call them.

- Bond - four weeks rent. Technically, it’s meant to go into a trust account, but find a fee-free bank account to put it in (ie no bank fees, no interest).

- Next of kin details. People to call if something goes wrong. About 9 years ago I got a knock on the door one Sunday afternoon. Two cops, asking about my housemate at the time (ie Quokka random). They left, and I checked the back room. Housemate unconscious, pale white with a bottle of pills next to him. Ambulance took him away and he survived.

Luckily, I had his father’s phone number. Rang him, and the dad said, “oh, not again.” WTF. Dad came over, picked up son’s stuff and that was that.

So, make sure that you’ve got contact details for next-of-kin.

- You do not want random blokes coming through there (ie female housemate picking up randoms). They’re there for sex now, but they’re going to see your stuff and there’s the possibility that you become a target for burglary later on.

- The single mother - how old is her kid? Toddler age? Young enough to damage the house with crayons, smashing toys into walls, etc?

- All money to be paid via bank account. Set up a special account for it. That way, there’s proof of what’s been paid, when, etc.

- For bills, etc, work out a weekly amount. Do not share bills when they come in - people move on, etc. Work out how much for the room and then add an amount for other costs (maybe $20-40 per week). This also avoids the arguments about who used the most electricity, gas, etc.

- If you want sex instead of money, check out the adverts on Craigslist. Not going there myself, but there are plenty of women offering sex for accommodation. I’m assuming that they’re disfigured monsters, but feel free to try it out and get back to us with results.

- House cleaners - shitloads of adverts on Gumtree.



PS: Post photos of the single mum. We’ll have a vote.

[mr_mike]

No I own the house wholly. Thanks for the advice so far.

The potential housemate is a single mum in her mid 20's, child currently under the custody of the father for 12 months so she can 'progress further with her career', so the kid will only be around every 2nd weekend. Not hugely phased with this as I'm not really around the house alot on the weekends anyway.
She came around the other day and I quizzed her out about a few different aspects of her living situation (i.e. the custody, father, work etc) and seems to be honest, upfront and easy enough to make conversation with. The plan is for 6 month stay, which suits me as I plan on moving in with a mate of mine around March 2016.

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but it's clear that she's hard up for cash (cars a bit worse for wear), so I think asking for a large bond will be out of the question.

Yeah it might give you a warm and fuzzy feeling the first couple weeks that you're doing some good and helping out this woman but I would avoid this one, alarm bells are ringing hard on this one.

childs dad has custody, is this court appointed or a mutual agreement? If its court appointed then as far as my understanding goes this only happens pretty rarely that the father will be favoured so there must be a dam good reason.

[DRKWRX]

don't let the single mum move in lol terrible idea.

[Adr3naL1N]

I would stay away from the single mum, just too much shit that could go down and give u a head fuck as others said! I may be wrong there and she may be ok but its a risk you have to decide you want to take? The problem is some people can interview fine and seem ok then they are completely different when they move in, Ive had that problem. As one mentioned above, if can get references call them!! These people have had experiences of living with and can tell you if they are truly worthy of a room in your house.

[HotAe92]

Ok. Think there's enough potential scenario's mounting here to warrant giving it a miss. Thanks everyone for your input!

[Evoboycorey]

Speak to Huggy_b

I am living at his place at the moment - he advertised on the forums a little while ago & I was desperate to get out of my current joint.

he didn't really ask many questions other than where I worked, & the "don't drink my alcohol" speech

We get along really well and haven't had any issues. As long as you have good judgement of character & don't let some dropkick in your house, shouldn't be any issues.

Just make sure they have a job? (that they didn't start two weeks ago)

[disc0-dan]

On the plus side at least you know she puts out if she is a single mum!

[crabman]

Anyone know how the income/taxation works for flatmates?

I work 2n2 and if I give one a go I am wondering if I can just declare it as if I rented the house out for 6 months of the year and negative gear it for that period and and declare I lived in it for the other 6 months. It would actually be worth keeping a diary and declaring I don't live there a lot more. It probably averages out that I spend 6 days a break at home lol

[ZAK]

Anyone know how the income/taxation works for flatmates?

I work 2n2 and if I give one a go I am wondering if I can just declare it as if I rented the house out for 6 months of the year and negative gear it for that period and and declare I lived in it for the other 6 months. It would actually be worth keeping a diary and declaring I don't live there a lot more. It probably averages out that I spend 6 days a break at home lol
One of my mates has 2x housemates so he claims 2/3 of his house as an investment. It's perfectly legal and is a perfect time to do any repair work on the house as the majority is then deductible.

[200MPH]

I had a similar situation years back. Big 4x2 house and suddenly just me in it. Had a revolving door of flat mates, all people I knew quite well who needed somewhere to live for a few months for various reasons. Ended up with single mum and 3 year old who she had on the weekends. Knew her too and was just trying to be nice to give her somewhere to stay after breaking up with husband. She ended up stayin 2 years or so! The single mum thing can be very dangerous in so many ways. I was lucky, ex didn't want to know her or come over and cause trouble. But traumatised little kids are hard to get used to! Was good contraception for me at least...
If you claim tax deductions on percentage of your house, be aware that captial gains tax may kick you years later when selling!

[munt]

One of my mates has 2x housemates so he claims 2/3 of his house as an investment. It's perfectly legal and is a perfect time to do any repair work on the house as the majority is then deductible.

Considered doing this but you open yourself up to capital gains. I get my rent paid to me in cash, haven't done the maths to see if i would be better off or not.

[mARC]

I am wondering if I can just declare it as if I rented the house out for 6 months of the year and negative gear it for that period and and declare I lived in it for the other 6 months.

Good luck with that rationale. Did you reside there for the entire year and rent half the place?

[S85FI]

yeah fuck that

Yeh I'd do that too.

[S85FI]

Oh I haven't hit the go button yet, hence why I'm here asking questions.

My gutfeel is on the fence at the moment. Having a chat with some close friends tonight then will make a decision, though I think I'll err on the side of caution.

I always ask for a police clearance. I want to know where they sit in the food chain. So many don't contact you again after you ask for that.

[crabman]

Good luck with that rationale. Did you reside there for the entire year and rent half the place?

I reside at work 15/28 days and 2 out of 3 breaks I spenda big portion overseas residing in hostels. Just wondering if its worth my while to jump through the hoops to claim 50% of the interest I pay. The capital gains crystal ball is a hard one, don't see myself everr selling the place.

[Damo 69]

I reside at work 15/28 days and 2 out of 3 breaks I spenda big portion overseas residing in hostels. Just wondering if its worth my while to jump through the hoops to claim 50% of the interest I pay. The capital gains crystal ball is a hard one, don't see myself everr selling the place.

if its a mate living with you, he leases it through an agent and you just stay where you are.

[urabus]

What about putting it on airbnb? A friend of a friend has a random place in Hamilton Hill and gets quite a few perps through at $50 / night.

Just a thought.

Brendon

[fourseven]

Speak to Huggy_b

the "don't drink my alcohol" speech

I never had that problem at Huggy's. Everything he drinks is rubbish.

[Phyber]

A friend of a friend has a random place in Hamilton Hill and gets quite a few perps through

You called them perps because they always nick something before leaving? :)

[HotAe92]

Just reading back through this to check a few things, and thought I'd give a quick update.

References are worth a call. I discovered a few things about the prospective housemate discussed earlier, which a few of you may have indicated caution for good reason.

Have since found another 'more normal' housemate who check's out well and is likely to move in this weekend. Agreement has been drawn up which hopefully will make for some comfortable sharing of space.

Thanks again for your advice!

[Damo 69]

single mother down on her luck was actually bat shit crazy?

[Joe]

But was she hot?

[Fukushima]

Link to Facebook page?

[hEEVO]

I take possession of a nice two story house in Freo (4x3x2) on the 16th of this month, and I have 3 rooms to lease. I will be doing the whole bond, rent in advance and contract thing, but Im just wondering would it be going to far to ask for a police clearance? I know people do change from they're past, but I feel its a good indication of character. Whats your thoughts?

[MadDocker]

Not at all. Do it. If they aren't upfront or at least give you a decent excuse, fuck that.

[HotAe92]

Not at all. Do it. If they aren't upfront or at least give you a decent excuse, fuck that.

What he said. My housemate has a working with children clearance which is good enough for me.

Happy to flick you a copy of the 'contract' I drew up if you want it.

[hEEVO]

^ Yeah thanks mate, would be good to see an example. Ill pm you my email.

[baz]

It may also be worth checking with your insurer as if they are living/guest in your home and steal from you ,you more than likely won't be covered. Like with home opens if you "invite" someone into your home and they take something to bad-not covered.
Someone earlier in post was looking for a good cleaner?? Clean Solution's WA - Marcello-has cleaned two rental houses for us now and done an exceptional job. He even cleans the office where my wife works and her boss is wrapped with the work. Recommended him to clients of mine (including a real estate agent ) who were all very happy with his services.
Clean Solutions WA O439 731 84O.

[huggy_b]

Paperwork = a trail

A trail to undeclared income. If you upset the wrong tenant it might cost you in back taxes...

And LOL at insurance covering someone with a house key.