Im considering taking over a duplex that I will live in one unit and rent out the other. I pla to rent out the individual bedrooms(2) with utilities included. Do i have to register as rental property even though its owner occupied?What tax implications should I expect. The property is in Baltimore City. Im currently researching to figure out my options. --158.103.x.x

Make the tenants pay for the stuff they have control over - water, electric, gas, telephone, cable or it will be wasted the same if you loan out your car to them. When you mention bedrooms are you thinking of running a rooming/hotel where they share interior spaces with you or others? --76.241.xxx.xxx

The unit will be seperate from me and is a 2nd floor apartment with two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and living room. The property is near a college so i thought i would start out renting to students preferably grad students. I thought it would be easier to have the utilities in my name and just roll those costs in the rent. --158.103.x.x

Listen to Virden. I had too many 4-figure bills to to waste and abuse. They get mad and switch to space heaters and let the hot water run etc. --118.172.xxx.xx

--69.89.xxx.xxx

You would have to prorate almost everything since your renting out part of your own home and won't be able to deduct the full cost a particular expense. --168.178.xx.xxx

I am assuming that the second floor apt. has a seperate electric meter. What type of heat is it? I would rent the apt. and include heat if it is only one furnace for the whole building, but have the upstairs tenants pay their own electric. cable, and whatever else can be billed seperately. Have both tenants names on the lease as being wholly liable for the rent. This way if one doesn't pay, the other is equally responsible. You should be able to find two friends who want to share an apt. --98.179.xxx.xxx

If your duplex is two units and you reside in one of them, then you do have to registure one as a rental and take 50% of the normal deductions -- since half is a rental and the other half is owner occpied. --173.58.xxx.xxx

Tamara you want to use jointly and severally on the lease - this is the language that binds each party to the lease if one goes away, what some tenants think is they pay one half so when sally leaves to live in the dorm then sara only pays one half and sally gets back one half of the deposit - this will ruin you in a short time, the deposit stays with the unit until it is empty of all food, furniture and packages so you can evaluate in daylight and be certain all the drains take water, in my younger days I made the mistake of accepting the hoo-haa from one tenant explaining the damage happened while she was at her family house for thanksgiving or any other holiday and the other persons boyfreind broke the light trying to replace the bulb - add any imaginable scenario to replace the ones I mentioned and it has been told to a resident manager or landlord, we have to listen to this bulloney often and remind ourselves somewhere in there is possibly some truth but the tenant has control of the place and must choose to be responsible for the unit - together or seperately but the payments remain the same. I encourage you to read here often and search for topics relating to a scenario you have heard someone else talk about - your local and state may vary from what you read, visiting housing court often will get you in touch with how this-n-that rule applies along with another, print out your local laws and place in a 3ring binder then turn the book over and place your state laws in from the other side so they do not get mixed up as you use this for reference to acquire strength in dealing with issues that will not sink you in court. --76.241.xxx.xxx

I ran out a long reply but wanted to mention I have had student rentals in our family over 25 years and the concept that has proven to be a winner is to prepare the unit as good or better than your own place and use a 9/10 month pre-paid lease, replacing most or all the water rubbers and motor bearings will get you into low maintenance and for a interuption free lifestyle upper classmen will pre-pay, in fact my aunt started to acept the following years rent and allow them to leave furniture in place over summertime and also give the family free place to stay during the summer if we get advance notice to turn on water in exchange for pre-paid rent, these units stay filled and always someone wanting to get in, they have to find someone wanting to get out - I do not have to deal with this, one person buys out another when the time comes as it is pre-paid, like selling a used car but I do detailed maintenance on the unit/s to eliminate silly repair calls. --76.241.xxx.xxx

Viriden- Thanks for the advice. I have printed out the local laws but not state laws.Definetly love the prepaid lease for students. --158.103.x.x