How can I rent out my mother-in-law suite?

skyactiv

skyactiv

Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
11,903
Location
The Midwest
I just moved into my new home. It has a walkout basement with a portion having a one bedroom mother-in-law suite/apartment. There is no interior door to the unit inside the main home. You enter and exit from the patio and there is a partitioned one car garage I could include in the rental. It will include all utilities, not sure about internet, has all appliances and a washer & dryer. There is no thermostat in the suite however.

My property tax and insurance is $1238 per month. It'd be nice to have the rent pay for it.

I want to be selective who I rent it to. What are good sites to list it on? I will not use CL. I wouldn't mind hosting it to a Ukrainian refugee but I don't know much about that.
 
not worth the trouble. for many reasons.

Stop paying rent after 2 months.. takes you 90days to get them out.
they leave place all jacked up.. anything from stains to concrete in drains.
Psycho people or drugs.
Run hot water or stove for heat you dont keep the place warm enough.
burn your house down cooking.. ie pass out when frying.
etc.

even if you vet the person... what if its a woman with really bad luck picking BF.. or the other way around.
 
My cousins live in Brooklyn in a 3 or 4 story brownstone and rent out one an apartment in their house. Either the top floor or basement floor. I thought it was really weird but it seemed very common in Brooklyn.
 
Leo99 said:
My cousins live in Brooklyn in a 3 or 4 story brownstone and rent out one an apartment in their house. Either the top floor or basement floor. I thought it was really weird but it seemed very common in Brooklyn.
Click to expand...
I'd imagine rent in there is probably higher than Ohio.
 
I have a mother in law unit on my home. It’s similar to the one you have. I wouldn’t dare rent it out. We use it for guests. My wife also uses it for her sewing.
You are opening yourself up for trouble.
I never want anyone living right up on me again.
 
Rand said:
I'd imagine rent in there is probably higher than Ohio.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm sure it is. But what I meant is that it's a perspective thing. I do not have the landlord mentality. I'd hate having someone living in my house even if I couldn't see them. I could hear them or feel their presence. And not to mention all the negatives that you listed. But to other people having a tenant in their house is perfectly normal.
 
skyactiv said:
I just moved into my new home. It has a walkout basement with a portion having a one bedroom mother-in-law suite/apartment. There is no interior door to the unit inside the main home. You enter and exit from the patio and there is a partitioned one car garage I could include in the rental. It will include all utilities, not sure about internet, has all appliances and a washer & dryer. There is no thermostat in the suite however.

My property tax and insurance is $1238 per month. It'd be nice to have the rent pay for it.

I want to be selective who I rent it to. What are good sites to list it on? I will not use CL. I wouldn't mind hosting it to a Ukrainian refugee but I don't know much about that.
Click to expand...
How much is the property tax a year?

How much is the Homeowners Insurance a year?
 
You can be very selective about tenants. Rental application, contact previous landlord. There are a few bad apples, but most people are good. If you get someone who skips out on rent, you're no worse off then if you had never rented it. You already own it, and it's just sitting there. You don't need to go out of your way to keep an eye on it, you live there. If it turns out that you don't like the arrangement, don't renew the lease and get on with your life. $13K/year is a lot to just leave on the table..
 
It's too bad you are not in the Newburgh, NY area. I'm looking for a place. I pay rent 6 months up front, and am only there part time, as I live in FL. Probably the ideal tenant.

Rentals can be fine. The lease sets the terms. Fear of evictions, damage and other issues can be at least partially addressed in a lease.
 
Rand said:
not worth the trouble. for many reasons.

Stop paying rent after 2 months.. takes you 90days to get them out.
they leave place all jacked up.. anything from stains to concrete in drains.
Psycho people or drugs.
Run hot water or stove for heat you dont keep the place warm enough.
burn your house down cooking.. ie pass out when frying.
etc.

even if you vet the person... what if its a woman with really bad luck picking BF.. or the other way around.
Click to expand...
This!!!
 
Rand said:
not worth the trouble. for many reasons.

Stop paying rent after 2 months.. takes you 90days to get them out.
they leave place all jacked up.. anything from stains to concrete in drains.
Psycho people or drugs.
Run hot water or stove for heat you dont keep the place warm enough.
burn your house down cooking.. ie pass out when frying.
etc.

even if you vet the person... what if its a woman with really bad luck picking BF.. or the other way around.
Click to expand...

^^^ + 100000000


Maybe a sane and employed person from your Facebook friends ?
 
Last edited:
Unless this space is partitioned off with concrete I would install a door and use it for your own purposes. Lots of possibilities there.

I am on the anti rental side. Too many negatives to outweigh the positives.
 
Why not AirBnb ? You can control things a lot and if you keep it booked 50% of the month, you'll bring in more revenue than you would renting it. My Mom has a studio apartment in a converted house (now 3 apartments) and a month's stay in it is almost $1600. Before she tried AirBnb, it rented for $600/month (today, she'd probably rent it for $700-800).

The fact that yours is separate from your living area is a HUGE appeal to AirBnb guests. In your area (if I recall correctly), you would probably get $80-120/night. The 'bus hospitals hire a lot of traveling nurses. Many of my Mom's guests are traveling nurses and work in her city, yours, and elsewhere.
 
Ive been house hacking for well over 10 years without any of the negatives posted by others in this thread.

I list below market and typically meet potential tenants face to face at the dwelling over a weekend. Kind of an Open house vibe.
Typically you know quickly the kind of people you want to live near. For an ADU or room rental, meeting the people you're going to be living in a common space with is critical.

Let me know if there is anything specific you would like to know. Cant attest to the money you are hoping to collect without knowing property/ market specifics but $1,200 in todays market seems reasonable.

As a side note, its disappointing seeing so many negative comments without knowing anything relevant to @skyactiv situation. This seems to be in alot of threads on BITOG.
I have a senior citizen in the family who is admittedly a bit of a hermit and lives alone. He rents out a bedroom or two to local college kids looking for a place to live (HCOL area). Again, rarely any issues (nothing to the extreme of things in this thread, most of which sounds like it comes from the news) and has been doing this since 2007. He likes and we like having somebody around in the off chance he doesnt doo a good job keeping in touch or if an emergency situation (which has happened). Its a unique situation but theres a lot of benefits to helping out somebody with housing that seems to be in short supply these days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC1
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Brons2
Mother in law Medicare enrollment - non English speaker.
Replies
5
Views
511
Pablo
skyactiv
I threw out an old Maytag dryer today
Replies
10
Views
1K
Lubener
Owen Lucas
How much does farm land rent out for?
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
chrlsful
slo town
My experience 30 floors up during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
2
Replies
20
Views
948
wpod
GON
  • Locked
Sale fell through on a hard to sell home primarily because of items in and condition of basement
5 6 7
Replies
131
Views
12K
GON
Back
Top