On Becoming A Landlord

[Montay]

I'm a student living on campus at my university and I recently purchased a house nearby with my father for me to live in for the remaining duration of my college, but I'm also going to rent out to other students in the remaining bedrooms. I have some trustworthy friends lined up to live with me and I'm very excited about this investment. However, aside from renting past apartments, I don't know much else about being a landlord and what I need to do. Because eventually, my friends will move out and I'll continue renting to complete strangers and I don't want to get into legal troubles. I guess I could find a sample of a lease online and rewrite it to fit my property, but can anyone give me more advice on what to do?

[Carnell]

MrItty said: 2 Abandon your plan of renting to friends straight away. That's just asking for trouble. "Trustworthy" they may be, but you are no longer a friend. You are a business owner, and "trust" is not the issue. The requirements of the lease are. You should not let friendship get in the way of your landlord/tenant agreement, nor should you let a legal agreement get in the way of your friendship.Put another way, you don't crap where you eat. 54 months ago

[Ron]

peppercat said: 3 You may be biting off more than you can chew. Is your house insured for liability, fire? Can you fix what they break? Agree with everyone so far about friends - tenants are not friends and vice versa. And students dont have much money - evicting in many places takes a long time with no rent and is a big pain.If the police come, you are it. Yes, use a lease and probably a month's security. Spell out responsibilities of tenants. And as Gary says, never leave the premises. I suspect this is going to be far less fun than you imagine. 54 months ago

[Fergus]

Abandon your plan of renting to friends straight away. That's just asking for trouble. "Trustworthy" they may be, but you are no longer a friend. You are a business owner, and "trust" is not the issue. The requirements of the lease are. You should not let friendship get in the way of your landlord/tenant agreement, nor should you let a legal agreement get in the way of your friendship.Put another way, you don't crap where you eat.