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

[alarmguy]

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.

You could get a real estate agent, that would be the safest and just make sure you stress the reason you are is to make sure they are well qualified (credit check in a must for strangers)
Basement rentals were very common on Long Island even though technically not allowed. As far as an agent they work for you so it doesnt matter.
One thing most people do not know is most basement rentals are out of code for one reason being that is the windows are too small to escape out of case of fire. Even though everyone ignores it, if one was to try for a legal basement it wouldnt happen unless the windows were large enough to be in code which allow someone to escape a fire.
Since that almost never happens at the least you should have a hefty fire extinguisher in the bedroom and kitchen area with a working smoke and CO detector.
My wife rented out her basement before I met her, just about paid the mortgage.

 

[ripcord]

My advice is don't advertise. Use word of mouth, telling only trustworthy people you know that you have a space to rent.

A friend of my parents supplements her income by renting out a mother in law and a downstairs apartment in her house and she has kept them filled with sane people for years just by asking around at her church.

 

[skyactiv]

You could get a real estate agent, that would be the safest and just make sure you stress the reason you are is to make sure they are well qualified (credit check in a must for strangers)
Basement rentals were very common on Long Island even though technically not allowed. As far as an agent they work for you so it doesnt matter.
One thing most people do not know is most basement rentals are out of code for one reason being that is the windows are too small to escape out of case of fire. Even though everyone ignores it, if one was to try for a legal basement it wouldnt happen unless the windows were large enough to be in code which allow someone to escape a fire.
Since that almost never happens at the least you should have a hefty fire extinguisher in the bedroom and kitchen area with a working smoke and CO detector.
My wife rented out her basement before I met her, just about paid the mortgage.

The suite is in a walkout basement. You walkout to a patio and there are steps to the driveway. No gas to the home. I have geothermal heat and ac and a 65 gallon Rheem hybrid water heater. Claims to be cheaper than gas. Didn’t go the desuperheater geothermal hot water route. But Ohio allows a bedroom or living quarters in a basement if there is an easement.

 

[alarmguy]

The suite is in a walkout basement. You walkout to a patio and there are steps to the driveway. No gas to the home. I have geothermal heat and ac and a 65 gallon Rheem hybrid water heater. Claims to be cheaper than gas. Didn’t go the desuperheater geothermal hot water route. But Ohio allows a bedroom or living quarters in a basement if there is an easement.

I understand you have a walkout, however it would be highly unlikely to be in code if there is no way out of the basement in case of fire other than one stairway in much of the country if not all.

 

[alarmguy]

This explains it pretty actually =

Egress Window Requirements | IRC Code for Fire Safety

Egress window requirements ensure that homes meet the International Residential Code for fire safety exits in basement level living spaces. Read more here.

www.egresswindows.com

Just so you know I’m not debating, just educating, the vast majority of basement apartments are a fire trap, they are not legal and up to code, god forbid if something should happen, with that said they set up as rental units all over the USA.
IN the hundreds of residential real estate transactions that I handled in NY, I am only sure of one possibly two basement apartments done to code and part of that code is proper size windows that open one can escape the basement from (or a firefighter enter), including 3 foot window wells with attached ladder up to ground level.

 

[USask2000]

You tell us that you and your wife are rich, why would you put up with a renter encroaching on your personal space?

 

[RhondaHonda]

This explains it pretty actually =

Egress Window Requirements | IRC Code for Fire Safety

Egress window requirements ensure that homes meet the International Residential Code for fire safety exits in basement level living spaces. Read more here.

www.egresswindows.com

Just so you know I’m not debating, just educating, the vast majority of basement apartments are a fire trap, they are not legal and up to code, god forbid if something should happen, with that said they set up as rental units all over the USA.
IN the hundreds of residential real estate transactions that I handled in NY, I am only sure of one possibly two basement apartments done to code and part of that code is proper size windows that open one can escape the basement from (or a firefighter enter), including 3 foot window wells with attached ladder up to ground level.

It sounds like he has a walkout basement where at least part of one side is exposed and at grade as the house is built on a sloped lot. He has an entry door and likely full size windows. As long as there’s a larger window in the bedroom nothing more is needed. It would be like exiting a normal house on the main level. I have a walkout basement and there’s 2 entry doors as well as 6 windows and it’s very common in my area in newer (<30 years old) homes.

 

[alarmguy]

It sounds like he has a walkout basement where at least part of one side is exposed and at grade as the house is built on a sloped lot. He has an entry door and likely full size windows. As long as there’s a larger window in the bedroom nothing more is needed. It would be like exiting a normal house on the main level. I have a walkout basement and there’s 2 entry doors as well as 6 windows and it’s very common in my area in newer (

Agree and that is what I posted about windows/egress.
All he mentioned was a door maybe he will comment if the windows or window in the sleeping area/bedroom fits the criteria of a full size window and either above ground or below ground with a 36 inch wide clearance and built in ladder to escape in case of fire.
If not I was just suggesting to take as many steps possible. Fire extinguishers ect to maybe help someone escape in case of fire.

Once again I could have asked that question first if I thought about it instead of one of my insane long comments trying to convey a point I’m working on that!

But we still need to know from him if there is full size window to escape from.
I was only curious and didn’t mean to sound like I was preaching as where I come from which it mostly all flat land, a basement apartment is almost (note the word almost) completely below grade .

 

[andrew_j]

How many AirBnbs do you run ?

I don’t my close friend does(5) and I help him out when he has to travel for work.

Helping out yields me his air bnb at ski area mid week. Also access to his place on Mediterranean usually a week.

 

[Dave Hess]

Try and find someone in the healthcare industry for a long term rental if you are close to some hospitals.

Photo(s) of suite would be helpful to all offering advice.

 

[skyactiv]

I got the suite rented out to a driver going through a divorce. $1450 month to month with all utilities included.
Unfortunately, I'm using the refrigerator from the suite because the Sub Zero refrigerator for our kitchen hasn't arrived yet. I will move the fridge back and buy something used or cheap today.

 

[AlpacaBowl]

I got the suite rented out to a driver going through a divorce. $1450 month to month with all utilities included.
Unfortunately, I'm using the refrigerator from the suite because the Sub Zero refrigerator for our kitchen hasn't arrived yet. I will move the fridge back and buy something used or cheap today.

Very nice! - Keep us informed

 

[Trav]

I didn't read the thread but my first guess is you need to give the MIL the bums rush first.

 

[01rangerxl]

Unless it's something you need to do to cover expenses, I wouldn't do it.

Back around 2008 some college friends and I rented a standard suburban late 80s house close to our school. We tore it up pretty bad, everything got fixed, but we were really dumb and there were things like a fire on the deck. And that was pre Airbnb era. Would not do it unless you NEED the income from renting it.

We didn't tear up the house nearly as bad as the apartment before it, but just trust me, you do not want to rent to college students.

 

[Rand]

Would not do it unless you NEED the income from renting it.

Pretty sure he has posted before his income is around 300k so that would be a no.
unless of course that 300k included one time sale of stock or similar and he was bamboozling us.

 

[14Accent]

Tax and insurance are $1,300/mo?! My taxes are $2,300 a YEAR, a little more for insurance. Call it $5k. Less than $500/mo, which is what I charge my tenant and her teenage daughter. Having them here adds a negligible amount to my monthly utilities, however it pays dividends when it comes to year-end costs.

Considering I'd be living in an empty 4br house otherwise, I happily take the tradeoff.

 

[Dave Hess]

^^^

Your wife doesn’t mind another woman living in your home ?