Top tips to rent out your spare rooms

rent out your spare rooms
  • Save

As a homeowner, your needs change overtime. Perhaps you had kids who moved away, or it could be that you simply want to repurpose a space; in any event, chances are at one point or another you’ll have spare rooms. But what can you do with them?

Well, if you’re not keen on the idea of downsizing, why not lend out your extra space – for a fee of course! It’d appeal to many people out there, especially young singles who can’t afford to rent out entire homes for themselves. Renting your spare rooms is a great way to make a bit of extra money and make a new friend or two, so why not give it a go?

Consequently, here’s a few tips to help you rent out your spare rooms!

Procedures and processes

Make no mistake, renting out a spare room isn’t something you can do on the fly. It’s not as simple as shaking hands with someone and welcoming them into the fold for a long sleepover. There’re official procedures and processes you should go through, so here’s what they are for your convenience.

In the same way that landlord insurance is incredibly useful but not a legal requirement, there’s a few other things you can do along these lines also. Tip off your home insurer that you’re taking in a lodger, and conduct background checks on your tenants for example. However, be certain to double check your council tax eligibility if you previously lived alone and check you’re not impeding on any of your mortgage terms. In doing these things, all your arrangements will be flawless on a legal basis, and things will go more smoothly!  

Depending on how you advertise your spare room, you can draw in good tenants and bad tenants. Therefore, it’s important to be strategic and cunning here in how you handle the marketing side of things. You could erect flyers in safe areas of town or ask your more trustworthy friends to notify their pleasanter pals to draw a strong pool of candidates.

It’s also important to accurately list the terms of being a lodger. Including detail about expenses you’re asking for, types of person you want to take on, pets or no pets, etc. That way, you’ll be significantly streamlining your candidates for further vetting when you meet. 

Understand each other

Before you accept a lodger and rent out your spare room, ensure that there’s a series of clear understandings between you and your potential lodger. Things like curfews, noise levels, chores and cleaning, rough length of stay and bringing romantic partners home should all be discussed beforehand. There’re may be a few kinks to work out, and it’s down to you to essentially set the rules.

If they don’t seem like they’re going to play fair, don’t take them on as a lodger; it’s that simple! In the end, you need to find someone who’s compatible with your way of living, so don’t just accept anyone with a bit of money. Even if you’re taking their rent, it can feel like it’s not worth it if they’re absolute hell to live with, so make sure there’s a series of understandings between you and any potential tenants. 

The last word on renting out your spare rooms

It’s important to be sufficiently informed when renting out your spare rooms, both for the sake of you and your lodger. Once you’ve followed all the correct procedures, advertised all the right information and ensured there’s a mutual understanding between you both, a wonderful arrangement is made perfectly possible!

Would you rent out your spare rooms? Do share in a comment below.

*This is a collaborative post

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.