Posted by Ronald * Starr on June 26, 2001 at 11:41:02:
Brandon----------
I recommend paying your fair tax. I do.
You treat it as rental property, on a schedule E on your 1040.
The good news is that you can take deductions for expenses of running an income property. Deduct for utilities, insurance, repairs, other expenses of renting the property. Plus depreication of that share of the house used as income property.
Good InvestingRon Starr**
Where to get info about renting my house? - Posted by Brandon
Posted by Brandon on June 25, 2001 at 14:42:07:
I am a homeowner looking to make a little extra money renting a room in my house to a friend. I don’t want to get burned though and need to know what the legal requirements are to rent a room in a house I am currently living is, rather than renting the whole house out. I’m tempted to do an all-cash deal totally off the books, but I just don’t think it’s worth the risk.
Does anyone know where I can find info about this? Everywhere I turn there is stuff about leasing or renting houses and apartments that I would not be living in, and nothing about this situation. Help!
Re: Where to get info about renting my house? - Posted by Lazaro
Posted by Lazaro on June 25, 2001 at 20:35:26:
Make sure you have everything in writing. If it is not in writing it will not stand in court. You might want to check landlord.com To be honest I rent homes but never rented a room. But I know some people that rent rooms out to college kids. Just make sure you do some research and find the right contract. Hope that helps.
Cordially,
Lazaro
Re: Where to get info about renting my house? - Posted by Ronald * Starr
Posted by Ronald * Starr on June 25, 2001 at 16:25:19:
Brandon-----
I’ve never seen any book on this topic. You might find some magazine article if you search through an index at your local library. Or if you find some magazine index to search on the internet.
I had house-mates for years. It’s actually easier than having properties you rent out, because you are right there to get the rent every month.
My suggestion: interview the person. Talk about cleanliness level expectations. Talk about what other expectations each person has re: sharing meals, sharing food, sharing the refrigerator, doing things socially, moving out of the living spaces when guests come over, etc. You should see how the person lives now. Will that be suitable for you?
Since you know this person, perhaps this not relavant: take in only somebody you feel positive about. If you have a “neutral” or “ech” feeling about the person, the answer has to be no.
Good InvestingRon Starr
Roommate - Posted by Sandy
Posted by Sandy on June 26, 2001 at 14:24:17:
The rules for this would depend on where you live. I live in NY and recently HPD handed down a ruling that if a person has a roommate, the roommate cannot be charged more than half of the rent. Where this ruling gets sticky is the term “roommate” is very vague. Just be careful. And, as with anything, do your homework.
Sandy
Thanks for the info…more questions - Posted by Brandon
Posted by Brandon on June 25, 2001 at 17:03:50:
Do you know if there is anything I should know regarding how to collect rent? The little info I have turned up suggests that that there isn’t much to write off, but I’m more concerned with if I need to declare this as income, and how, on a 1040 or something at tax time.
How did you handle it? Think I could manage to pull something off where I just declare that the housemate pays for groceries and other random stuff and that I didn’t officially receive any personal income? We’re only talking $300-400/month and probably not for a very long time. Thanks!!
Re: Thanks for the info…more questions - Posted by Ronald * Starr
Posted by Ronald * Starr on June 26, 2001 at 11:41:39:
Brandon----------
I recommend paying your fair tax. I do.
You treat it as rental property, on a schedule E on your 1040.
The good news is that you can take deductions for expenses of running an income property. Deduct for utilities, insurance, repairs, other expenses of renting the property. Plus depreication of that share of the house used as income property.
Oh, a part of you mortgage interest.
Good InvestingRon Starr**