State Specific Question About: ARIZONA (AZ)

I'm thinking of renting out rooms in my home to generate income. My target would be single people who have lost their homes due to the housing crisis. And perhaps are looking for sometype of "temporary" housing to get them back on their feet?

For now, I'm wanting to see if a market exists for this type of venture.

There is probably a market for it. I strongly suggest that you read up on and learn your state city and county laws on renting rooms as it is different than renting non owner occupied multi dwelling building.

Or owner occupied multi dwelling units.

I believe you would want a rental agreement for each tenant. I would go only with a month to month. So you can get them out fast if things go wonky.

Have them sign a roommate agreement if it fits your sitch. I don't know if it would I'm not you.

Be aware that you could also make it a weekly rental. Meaning instead of paying monthly they pay weekly. The benefits of that is that with a 7 day rental period that means you can boot them in 7 days. Also means you will catch them quicker if they are the no pay type.

Being it's your home you are renting rooms from. You have more freedom of setting the type of person you want in the dwelling living with you.

Fair housing regs are bend-able where if you were not living in the dwelling with the tenant fair housing laws are issues to conform with.

You could do a full blown rooming house. Where you provide the meals and such. I don't know if that is still done in this day and age? =shrug=.

There are also government grants available to those who qualify for running a boarding house for disabled people. Foster kids, abused Mothers, and so forth. What the regs /rules are for that I don't know

The information is out there it just takes seeking the right information. Then meeting the qualifications.

If it were me I would have 4 small lockable refers & 4 matching locked cabinets in the kitchen so no b.s. about he took this or she used that. Me being the home owner/landlord I would keep the common areas clean I would build this into the rental amount.

I would supply paper plates and plastic ware. They have their own pans. No dishes allowed to left in the kitchen any that are will be thrown away. Stop that junk before it starts.

Mean Old Landlord Josh grr...hee hee...

thanks Josh! GREAT comments.

I did have some ideas...like foreign exchange students in college and/or even airline stewardess.

Fly & Flops will work. They are pretty good tenants in the overall scope of things. I purchased a dented small refer for my office for my fresca addiction. It's black with a place at the bottom for a padlock. I haven't gotten so bad that I would lock my fresca up. (not yet)

So they are available readily for the general public without looking too hard.

I have heard a lot of tenant splats over the years. It's mostly about food and dishes oh and rent payment but you won't have that problem of the roommates ponying up the $.

There are some creative ways to make this work.

You're a brave lass. I doubt I would have the guts to live with my tenants. Scary :)

I have had roommate/tenants and I currently live in the apartment building that I own.

I can tell you from personal experience that what you are suggesting is Landlording at its boldest.

I am not saying, don’t do it, I am saying, be prepared. Josh (CA)’s response was dead on, so I won’t try to repeat anything except to emphasize that you must really know your state and local laws inside and out.

The biggest mistake I see LL’s make is that they expect these people to just sit quietly in their room and pay rent each month. It does not happen that way.

They are real people with real lives who have real friends and real problems.

They will want to smoke, they will leave a mess in the bathroom, and they will play music that you don’t like at a volume that will annoy you. They will talk loudly on their phone, or maybe yours. Their friends will come over and they will stay up later then you want and they will drink. They will have personal conflicts with you and the other roommates. They will pay their rent late and they will bend or break any rules that you have.

Most LL’s have a professional and geographic distance built into the relationship, you will need to work hard and be very deliberate to maintain that.

Again, I am not saying don’t do this, I am saying be prepared. If you are prepared, this can be one of the best things you can do financially, and a Godsend for the people you would be helping out. If you go into this with a naive and unprofessional manner, this will be a living hell.

Above all remember the first rule of Landlording; The Landlord is in charge, the tenant is not.

I wrote this for house "rules" in my own owner-occupied rental-of-rooms situation. You may find it helpful:

1- Privacy: Your room is your room, my room is my room. The remainder of the house will be shared equally by all. Privacy is respected by all, as long as it’s legal. Please don’t do anything that would have the police knocking on the door.

2- Shared spaces: Everyone will share upkeep responsibilities for the shared spaces within the house, such as cleaning & vacuuming. The homeowner will take care of the general repair and maintenance of the home, such as mowing lawn, snow shoveling, putting out the trash, plumbing, heating, light bulbs, paint, etc. Renter does not have to worry about those tasks....unless you really want to do it. Let’s share kitchen/cleaning consumables. We should all do our part to make sure there are paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, etc. Likewise, there is no reason to fill the fridge with three bottles of ketchup or chopped garlic. Let’s share consumables and save space.

3- Respect: Out of respect for others in the house, I will… (a) Take the trash or recyclables to the basement if it is full. (b) Keep the kitchen clean; stovetop, microwave innards, countertop, grill, etc. (c), Not leave dirty dishes in the sink or clean ones in the drying rack. (d) Run the dishwasher if full, and empty it if it is clean (e) Keep the bathrooms clean, including toilet, tub/shower, countertop, floors. (f) Share vacuuming, dusting, bathroom cleaning. (g) Clean up carpet spills before they stain (We have a rug cleaner). (h) Not leave laundry in the washer or dryer so another person can use it (i) Wash the kitchen/bathroom towels if I’m doing my own laundry.

4- Septic: The house is on septic, so be careful what goes down the drain. I won’t get gross here, but if you are at all unsure, don’t flush it or put it down the drain.

5- Pets: Each pet owner is solely responsible for all damages caused by his or her pet. This includes, but is not limited to: damages to furniture, floors, carpeting, doors, lawn, etc.

6- Smoking: Unless everyone agrees otherwise, smoking is outside the house only please. I do smoke in my own bedroom, but I have a double standard here. Forgive me.

7- Guests: Overnight guests are reasonably allowed…either in-room or in guest accommodations. I have an Aerobed if anyone needs to use it. It’s best to check with everyone else first if you have guests planning to stay overnight in the living room. If going away, or having a guest over, or throwing a big party...please let everyone else know. If you need a spare key for guests, just ask.

8- Extras: Pay-Per-View or premium movie channels are on your own. If you want to use the outdoor whirlpool spa, there is a small $8000 extra one-time fee. Just write me a check, give me a week or two, and I’ll show you where it is.

9- Parking: It is possible to park multiple cars in the driveway/garage and have them all able to come and go. Let’s try and not park anyone in. If you park someone in, leave your car keys on the hall table in case your car needs to be moved.

10- Utilities: All utilities are included in the rent: Gas, heat, hot water, electricity, DirecTV, broadband wired/wireless internet, yada, yada, yada. There is an extra DirecTV with Tivo for your bedroom if you have a TV. There is no landline phone, but you have a cell phone anyway. Although utilities are included, please conserve resources by washing full laundry loads, turn off lights when not in the room, turn off faucet when brushing, shut off the A/C when not home, etc.

11- Rent: First month’s rent and a security deposit is due before moving in. Excessive damage beyond normal wear and tear, if present, will be deducted as reasonably determined. If no damage is present, the security deposit will be returned, with interest, right away.

12- Termination: With no lease, either roommate is able to end the shared living situation at any time, for any or no reason. Sometimes it just does not work out. A minimum of 30 days notice would be the courteous and nice thing to do.