Anyone ever have a roommate?

Anyone ever have some good roommates? I gotta coworker that needs a place for about a year and figured Id rent him a room for 1/3 mortgage and half utilities/internet.

good guy, keeps tidy and we work different shifts but im still nervous about the whole roommate thing, any tips to help it stay smooth or things to steer clear of?

 

Just always remember that he is renting YOUR room. I got a feeling that you would already know if there will be problems, but don't be afraid to speak up if you want something done.

Also be cautious about cooking dinner and letting them in on it. I know from experience that when you say, "hey, I cooked a little extra, feel free to help yourself" that it has the potential to turn into an open cabinet policy.

 

I have rented rooms to guys, girls, and friends. The best suggestion that I can say is to make sure UP FRONT that they understand that this is a rented room, and not a rented free-for-all house. set the rules up front for things such as friends over and such. Make sure that they know that this will be totally separate from being "friends" because we ARE talking about your HOME here, which you pay for with your hard earned money.

Now on to just another simple suggestion. I would say not to plan your budget dependent on his/her rent being paid. You don't want to have the power shut off or the mortgage company to foreclose because your friend didn't pay their share, and you were not able to cover it. I always took rent money in to spend as "extra" cash, and made sure that I was fully able to take care of ALL of the bills, regardless of having a roommate.

 

Roommates.....

Seriously though.....you already said he is a good guy, tidy, and you work opposite shifts...its only short term, right? about a year? As long as you set some rules you should be fine. I gave friends a place to stay while they were going through a divorce/separation before and never had any issues.

 

+1 to making sure they understand they are renting a ROOM, and not the house, and that you are a landlord, and not just a friend. That's not to say that he should be banished from using the TV in your living room or hanging out on the back deck or anything, but that's your stuff and not part of his rental. And definitely don't budget off their rent. Like was said, you don't want to be dependent upon that for your bills.

I rented to an acquaintance (he would call himself a friend, I would not) and his fiance for about 18 months. While they were timely with rent, didn't intentionally destroy anything, and generally OK, it was the best day of my life when they moved out. I traveled a lot for work, and they thought the house was theirs, and not just their room. I would come home and they would have done little projects all around the house without my permission, and that I had to fix after they left. Things like hanging decorations/pictures, painting, etc...all of which I had to fix when they moved out. They didn't understand that wasn't their space...we weren't co-tenants renting a house together...they were my tenants renting a room. So yeah, make sure that's clear.

The bottom line is, no matter how clean, tidy, and responsible he is, to him it's going to be a rental, and he's not going to pay as much attention to keeping things nice as you will. Renting out part of your house can be done, but man, was I glad when it was over.

 

Just remember that good can go to bad in a very short order...

 

I've had a few. Roommates are messier than you typically so if you like a clean house that may bother you. My roommates call me dad because I assign them chores all the time. It is my house though so I'm cool with it

 

Thanks for the reassurance! He understands that its just a room, and that he is allowed to use the internet and TV if he pays for cable, I told him to clean like we do at the firehouse the day before he starts his cycle and when he gets back from last day like I do and we set up perameters about friends and ahem "friends".

Im not relying on him to pay my bills, but him being here saves me 250 a month on a dog sitter plus whatever hes paying, I planned to either save it or to use it towards tile/hardwood floors

it is short term, just till he gets on his feet,

should i come up with a written contract and get it signed and noterised?

 

Damn, I thought this was a gonna be a "good" roomate story thread!

 

well i broke the news that he can move in next month if he signs a lease. he teared up and repeatedly thanked me for giving him a shot to get on his feet

he works full time with me and has a part time job and is lookin another PT job.

we will see how this pans out! if its bad ill post up a horror story

 

Cool. As previously stated, just be open and upfront on the "rules" and "issues" that may arise. I've had good roommates in the past and it was fun. Nice of you to open up your place to him too.

Good luck to both!

 

just be careful. I rented a house from my dad for a few years. had roomates that I went to school with and it all worked out fairly well. . .

all until I tried to help someone get on their feet. my ex-stepbrother of like 8 years. heard I had the place and wanted to rent. remembering that we were such great friends, even brothers we called each-other, I let him in. well, come home from work one day and I have syringes and reeses wrappers on MY desk. also, he cooked one of MY SPOONS!

wtf! who shoots up, burns my spoons, and eats all my reeses?????? when I kicked his ass out, the only thing he could say for himself was that he bought the reeses at the store. . . . he was crying. beware in-closet drug addicts. even if you thought you knew them well at one point

 

My new roommate is my best friend that I've lived with for 2 years. My old roommate was quiet and kept to himself, so other then when he did laundry at 2am or other loud shit once in a while, he was a decent roommate.

Set ground rules like what you both expect and agree upon. Then stick to it. Getting them to take out the trash or load the dish washer will always be the biggest struggle.

 

Have had good and bad room mates. The hardest ones seems to be "good" friends. They expect you will buckle at their every request. I came home from a business trip one day and found my car outside in the rain their car in the garage (which was already set as off limits. want to use my tools fine put them back when your done. Need to move my car fine but if it starts raining or any bad weather immediately put it back up. Need to drive my car forget it EVER) tools scattered everywhere garage door wide open air conditioning full freeze mode and them sitting in the living room covered in grease eating while sitting on my brand new suede couch. Needless to say I went ballistic. They moved out a month later to a one bedroom apartment paying over double what I was charging them. Lesson is. Unless you strictly enforce the rules forget it.

 

only real problem ive had with room mates is when they dont help clean. When you eat food, the dishes are cleaned and loaded, the counter tops are cleaned and the stove/grill is cleaned. end of discussion. When the house needs cleaned, you help. If you need communal shit, you pitch in. Its not a hotel, its living in a house.

 

^This. It's a very handy thing to have if things get out of hand. Although you've invited him in already this would be a 'set in stone' method of enforcing the rules.

"You didn't say I couldn't do that when I moved in!" "You bet I did." And whip out that piece of paper.

I've been the one renting rooms more often than not and everyone has their own method of managing their house. One place I rented the room but had free access to the kitchen and living room whenever I wanted. Another it was the entire house, bar nothing. Still a third I had a separate access to my room and essentially became a hermit, interacting mostly when food was about or rent needed paying (night shift).

As all the rest have said: know your rules, stick to them, and have something legal in case they decide to split without paying rent.

Good luck with the roomie!

 

Best roommate story I ever had was when a good friend of mine asked me if my spare room was open for renting. Assuming he was talking about himself I told him yes. That weekend he comes to my place with this mousy girl, all quiet and timid looking. turns out the girl was one of those "best friend's cousin's niece, twice removed" kind of things. She had just started college (The university was less than a block from my house) and was looking for a place to rent for the next 4 years so she wouldn't have to drive 45 minutes every day. I agreed cause face it, I'm a softie. The girl was not ugly, but she wasn't a head turner either. So we all sit down in the living room and talk, making sure we all seem ok with it all. The girl almost NEVER talked at all, and had this tiny voice.

Fast forward about 6 months or so, things were fine. She kept to herself, kept everything SPOTLESS clean, always paid early on rent and utilities, etc. You couldn't ask for a better roommate as far as quality. But she was always so dang quiet! One weekend I was going to be partying all weekend at a frat brother's place, but ended up going home early. It was about 1 am when I got home and when I walked into the living room, which is right at the front door, there was this mousy girl totally naked, going to town on herself while watching my porn! And she was NOT being very quiet about it! She saw me seconds after I came through the door, screamed and ran into her bedroom. I turned off the TV and went to bed nearly laughing my head off. It was DAYS before I saw her again and MAN she was totally embarrassed! We eventually laughed about it and from then on she was out of her shell a lot more. No, we didn't have sex or anything like that, but we would laugh at some things when around friends that had people thinking we might have had a relationship. But nope, we just became good friends and I even was the one who introduced her to her future husband! I still laugh about that story.

 

that must have been one of the most embarrassing moments of her life!

 

wrote up a quick lease, hows it look, did i miss anything?


I xyz agree to this lease for 1 (one) Bedroom at Address here. All terms and conditions must be strictly abided by; failure to do so could result in prosecution or eviction
- I xyz agree to the lease of one bedroom for the price of 1/3 the homes mortgage+ home owner’s association dues, as well as ½ the monthly utility bill. Internet and/or cable are optional amenities and will be paid 50/50 by both parties (Home owner and xyz)
- This lease is only for one bedroom; common areas are a privilege not a right and can be restricted or forbidden at any moment at the discretion of the home owner.
- All guests must be approved by homeowner and homeowner must have 2 days prior notice before guests are to come, the homeowner has the right to refuse access to the home and or property to anybody for any reason
- Absolutely no drugs or illegal activity allowed on property
- No smoking in the structure or within 15 ft of the structure
- My food is not your food, food shall be appropriately marked or labeled to avoid confusion
- My clothes are not your clothes, do not try them on, wear them, make a flag out of my underwear ect…
- House must be kept tidy; vacuum, clean glass, counter tops, stove, bathroom, mop, dust, and do dishes at the beginning of every “A shift” work cycle, or on an as needed basis as determined by the home owner
- On “B shift” days feed the Dalmatian, referred to as Blaze, as well as give him any appropriate medication and provide cool clean water at all times. If Blaze is to fall ill or injured take him to the specified veterinarians as posted on the refrigerator. All veterinary bills and gas money associated with Blaze’s transport will be the responsibility of the homeowner.
- You agree not to intentionally cause any destruction or loss of property and to cover any destruction or loss of property which you may cause, whether intentional or not.
- Absolutely no pets
- No loud music or actions which may be determined rude or disruptive at the discretion of the homeowner.
- Do not set thermostat above 75 in the winter or below 70 in the summer, this rule can be changed at the discretion of the homeowner.
- Please do not walk around naked, a towel around the waist will suffice
- Please water grass as needed in the summer on “B shift” days.
- If you are to be out past 11 please let me know, I am a very light sleeper and it is essential to your safety that I know this.
- Do not use any of my personal property without first asking, when personal property is returned make sure it is in the same condition or better than when it was taken
- This lease can be terminated with 1 week prior notice by either of the parties and is not to exceed eight months from date signed below, any extension of the lease is at the discretion of the homeowner and may be done so by signing and dating another lease
- All bills are to be paid by the fifteenth of each month; late bills can result in eviction and/or prosecution for amounts unpaid.
- A receipt will be written for all monthly bills paid.
- Home owner will provide 1 house key and one garage door opener, please return the garage door opener at the termination of the lease, and do not provide a house key for absolutely anybody except for yourself, also leave the garage cracked at all times so Blaze has access to his crate
- At the termination of the lease, xyz shall pay ½ the cost to rekey locks
- Please take out the garbage on an as needed basis
- If you are to use my laundry detergent or drier sheets pitch in to pay for them
- If you are to use my coffee please pay for it, this goes back to the my food is not your food rule.
- Yard care will be done at an as needed basis as determined by homeowner, if done on a “C shift” day one will mow while the other weed eats, if done on any other shift we will alternate, please mind the giant hill when mowing.
- Homeowner will not be held responsible for any injuries, death, or destruction or loss to personal property to you or to that of your guests.
- Homeowner will not be held responsible if Blaze bites, scratches, jumps on xyz or guests or destroys any personal property of xyz or guests
- Do not antagonize, tease or upset Blaze
- Also do not poison, kill, or injure Blaze
- Parking will be figured out as needed, do not move any of my vehicles.
- When leaving the structure secure it appropriately as determined by homeowner
- In case of fire there is an extinguisher in the closet underneath the stairs and a set of gear in the garage at most times…call 911 then you know what to do.
- Please do not park within 15 ft of the fire hydrant
- If possible avoid parking in front of the mail box
- Treat the residents in the neighborhood with respect and kindness
- Homeowner reserves the right to evict you at any given moment with no notice.

 

That's a lot of requirements but I guess it works.