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Help! I have to rent out this house!?

Janie - 2009-06-28 23:29:30 - Renting Real Estate

I recently moved into my sister and brother in law's 4Br house in Colorado to watch it while they're stationed in Mississippi for the military. They're getting divorced now and my sister won't give him her share of the mortgage. For him to make his $1,500/month mortgage payment, we'll need to rent out the house. Luckily, the basement was almost finished so I was going to move down there and rent out the rest of the home. A house of my size in my area rents for about $1200-$1500/month, but the big yard is all weeds with no landscaping, the fence is broken, the garage is broken and filled with junk, and I have a washer but no dryer. My brother in law has no money or time now so I, a 19 year old min wage worker, am on my own. How much less should I charge them for me living in the basement? Will people still want to rent if I promise the garage or yard in a month? Which probIems should I fix first? Should I spend extra on buying and installing a washer and dryer for the basement so that they won't have to share with me? Is it more profitable to rent out rooms individually? How do I protect myself from being screwed over because I don't know anything about being a landlord? Thanks so much for your advice but I feel I owe them since they let me move out of my mom's and move in with them when I was 15. And back in when I was 18 when I couldn't live with my boyfriend anymore. And I can't afford to pay rent on my own and go to school this fall so I'd have to move back to my mom's in California. I have a kitchen and bathroom in the basement, I can get a washer and dryer installed if neccesary, but unless I want to keep a window unlocked I have no direct enterence. I can put up a wall upstairs dividing the garage, laundry room, a bathroom, and the basement from the rest of the house, or maybe I can try building a little 4 foot door to go into the basement from outside, but all options look expensive. And I'm already $1500 in debt.

Best Answer:

Answers:

While you may think you have to rent the house out, what you need to do is pack your things and let your brother in law sister deal with the fallout from their dysfunction by themselves. If she's unwilling to contribute to the cost of the mortgage, and her name is on the deed, he needs to consult a lawyer and see if a sale of the house can be forced before the divorce and settlement are finalized. Period. It's unfair and totally unreasonable for either to expect you to carry the burden here. You're going to be hard pressed to find anybody willing to rent the house, given your age, the absence of the homeowners, and the fact you'll be living in the basement (which you may not even have the *legal right* to do [Does it have its own entrance, bathroom kitchen, or will you be using those in the space you've rented out? If you have to use facilities above the basement, forget renting the house and consider renting single rooms, which presents another set up problems).

I know you want a place to live, and I don't know what rental accommodations are in your area, but my suggestion to you would be not to get involved, for them to solve their own problems. They can take this problem to a realtor who could rent it out and get basic things fixed up quickly for renting. There is a contract they could make with the realtor who will interview people, check their credit and rent out the place for the going market rate for a small percentage, and will even take care of things for the owner like if the pipes burst or if there is a leak. It should be the owner who should take this matter to the realtor (not you). So give them this information, and ask them to move on it quickly. I suggest you find family and rent out one of their bedrooms until you can get working or plan to go to school, which I suggest you go to school on a grant and ask the school if they could provide a place for you to live as well, and get yourself some food stamps.