Share house living

[limeandpepper]

For those of you who do share housing... how long do you think you would do it for? At what point do you go, nope, no more, I want my own place. Could you do it forever? (This applies not only to renters, but also home-owners who have live-in tenants.)

I have been doing the share house thing for many years... and really, I think it's okay. I don't see sharing a place with other people as a great inconvenience to my life. I hear stories, but I think the bad scenarios can usually be avoided with reasonable caution. And with the right people, it can be a wonderful, positive experience. Having said that, I still dream about having my own little place one day, with my boyfriend. :)

[Gin1984]

I actually have never lived on my own.  My husband and I moved from college to grad school and stayed in temp housing with one other man.  When we moved out we offered him a room at our new place for cheaper than he was paying.  We have lived with him for almost five years.  However, when he moves out we probably won't rent out again, since we now have a child and plan to have a second one in a couple years.

[okashira]

I think it's 100000% depending on who you end up with (and this is under your control) and your personality (less in your control, hah!)
and a little bit of luck.

[Niarts]

I have two roommates (tenants) in my house with me. They are both a bit older than I. I'm 25 and they are in their 40s.

The first roommate is a bit weird but is a generally nice guy. He has his quirks but he isn't intolerable.
The other roommate stays here only a few nights week. She lives with her husband in a city about an hour away Thursday through Sunday and is here Monday through Thursday for work. She gets home after I've gone to bed and I leave for work before she gets up. I think I've seen her maybe a dozen times in the year that she has lived here.

The rent from them is a few dollars more than my mortgage so it is a pretty good situation. I'm simply paying the utilities which are a bit higher than if I was living alone but not too bad. This is much easier than trying to split the bill and allows them much more predictability.

[HappierAtHome]

I've had some bad experiences in share houses (orgies, all-night parties on weeknights, failure to pay rent etc).

But perhaps more importantly, I learnt that I don't cope well with living with housemates. I don't like noise. Or dirty dishes. Or waiting to do my laundry while someone else hogs the machine all day.

I'm willing to accept that I'm a wimp about this. I'm a real homebody and I get really uptight about my home environment. I'd rather sacrifice other things than share my house.

[taekvideo]

I rent out 3 extra bedrooms in my house and haven't had any problems with it.
Just be selective about who you choose to live with.
And have a month-to-month lease (assuming you're the owner) so you can kick someone out if they're a royal pita :)

[SDREMNGR]

I'm doing it for a year but I think I will eventually rent out the whole house and move to another house that I'm looking to turn into a 2 on 1 and rent out part of the house separately.  Living together does have its downsides but there are some perks as well.

[Nudelkopf]

I moved out at 17 to go to uni, and I've been living with other people since (so, 6 years). But I've only spent the last 3 years in a typical sharehouse. At my first house, I liked to ignore my housemates. They were dirty, never washed their sheets/dishes/floor/bathroom, and were really annoying. At my current house, we're all in the same-ish profession, and we're all of a general level of cleanliness & likeableness.. I could live with these kinds of people up until I'm married, I guess :) But I don't really want to live with other people while I'm married :-/

But I've never had a lease with other people - always just been in the 'rent a room in a house' style thingy with the landlord. We each pay separately, which alleviates a lot of stress.

[marty998]

I've had some bad experiences in share houses (orgies, all-night parties on weeknights, failure to pay rent etc).

oh come on, you can't tease us like this. Tell us more! Tell us more!

I was otherwise going to reply seriously to this thread, but Okashira sums up my sentiment.

[Mr One Wheel Drive]

I heard of a couple that had a big 2 floor house and ended up renting out the ground floor as offices. That way while they were at work someone was is the house but at night they were alone.

They renovated upstairs to make their own kitchen etc. And locked the door leading up as well.

Good for small business looking for a small office. The price for them was cheaper than comparable offices.

[alsoknownasDean]

I've been doing it for the last four and a half years. I've had good and bad experiences. Current place is pretty good.

However I wouldn't want to rent out rooms in a place I owned, easier to move than kick someone out.

I would like my own apartment, but considering rent for an apartment here would be at least 2.5x what I'm paying now, I figure i'll stay put and save money. My plan is to save enough for a deposit, and then in a year or so, rent closer to work while looking around at places to buy.

[ak907]

I am 26 and have been doing some form of space sharing all my adult life, from dorms, apartments, to a room in a house (most of my time). Its a great way to save money if you can find the right landlords. It doesn't have to be all that bad. I have been pretty fortunate and haven't had a disastrous experiences (besides one apartment share I had to bail on after a week). Sometimes you find you really get along with the people you live with. And it can be nice, single and alone in an area where you know no one and have no family to know someone knows you exist. Roommates can also be helpful if you have medical emergencies or just need a quick extra hand doing something. I greatly prefer the pay a fixed amount each month, vs trying to split utilities.
All that being said it is certainly not how I would live if housing didn't cost so much. I hate other peoples dirtiness, I hate the dishes in the sink, and the petty fights over expenses for basic things (paper towels and toilet paper).
     I have found ways to deal with these things like, I always clean my dishes and clean up after myself (vacuum, etc.) so don't drag me into your (other roommates) petty bickering over chores. I just man up and buy big packs of cleaning supplies and basics at Costco to avoid the drama. I have had to deal with some really unbelievable roommates, like a 20year old man who tried to use my swiffer to clean a mirror because apparently he has no idea how to do any basic chores.
    I dream of having a full set of private kitchen cabinets so I can have nice equipment to cook that won't get "borrowed". To have enough room to have enough equipment to do more than grill, boil and bake on a flat tin in the oven.
    My experiences mostly have been less Friends (TV show), and more strangers who may not know each other or like each other that much but are civil and interact as little as possible while living together. Its a great way to save money, but I wish it wasn't necessary.

[Bearded Man]

I've had some bad experiences in share houses (orgies, all-night parties on weeknights, failure to pay rent etc).

But perhaps more importantly, I learnt that I don't cope well with living with housemates. I don't like noise. Or dirty dishes. Or waiting to do my laundry while someone else hogs the machine all day.

I'm willing to accept that I'm a wimp about this. I'm a real homebody and I get really uptight about my home environment. I'd rather sacrifice other things than share my house.

I think I would fall into this camp since this largely describes me, even though I don't rent out the extra rooms in my house, but would if I had to. I have gotten used to my gf being here all the time, so I think it depends on how carefully you screen to find a match.

If I were to rent a room or two out, I would rent out to bookish grad students who are loaners and quiet.

[johnintaiwan]

I lived in share houses as soon as college started (a fraternity, probably the extreme of share house living) and then after for a few years when I lived in the us and came to taiwan. i think it is a very good situation when you are young and starting out or are in a new city or country. But when I came back to TW this time I got my own place. I was in a different part of life, done partying and such, and was trying to become and "adult" (not that you cant be an adult in a share house, just most of them here are full of FOB's looking to party) I think it is wise to give up the life once you are in a committed relationship and want to live together.

[EK]

My husband and I have been renting out our second bedroom to a college friend since the beginning of the year, and I must say it's much easier and less an invasion of our privacy than I thought it would be.  Our renter says over at his SO's place about half of the time and hangs out in his room mostly when he is home, so I almost forget we even have a roommate sometimes.  I suspect the arrangement will end when my husband and I have a kid, but probably only because the renter would find a baby to be a poor roommate versus us asking the roommate to move out.  I could see the arrangement extending until baby actually needs it's own room if our renter is game for it.

[stripey]

My sub-tenant is moving out tomorrow and I am in no hurry to find a replacement.

Out of the last 11 or so years I have shared housing in some sort of arrangement or another for eight of them. I coped better when I was younger, I think. Part of it is that I think (AS A GENERAL OBSERVATION ONLY!!!) the proportion of people who share house that are well-balanced individuals reduces with increasing age... you're much more likely to find someone that is a good housemate when they (and likely you) are in your early twenties than say, in your mid thirties. I think that could be because I'm getting pickier as time goes on, but well... I'm not sure this is a bad thing! I would describe myself as an introvert with strong extrovertive tendencies, and as I grew up in exceptionally close quarters personal space is not a big issue for me.


This is in the last four years:

This housemate (subtenant to me): 31? major communication issues although he means well, poor hygeine.
Last housemate (I was subtenant): 32 cycle of major binge drinking and smoking after quitting all/either (we're talking two packs of cigarettes and at least a six pack per night, plus other things), took more than three months to get 'bond' back because it was spent by them
Penultimate housemates (I was subtenant): principal tenant was about 22 and had no life experience, and the other two housemates had even less. Made bills, cleaning, conflict resolution, etc.

Not saying I won't share again, but I will probably want to be principal tenant and take a subtenant, rather than equally share-house, and I would prefer to be exceptionally picky about who I live with and/or take people in for a limited time with a firm end-point. Regardless I of whether I share house again or not, my savings rate will be about 50% and as I don't intend to retire early, I am willing to delay FI for a few years for better quality of life in the meanwhiles.

My experience, YMMV

[blackomen]

I lived that way from 2009 to 2011 (when I was broke and with dim job prospects due to the recession)..  most of the landlords and housemates I ended up with were OK, but I guess it can be hit or miss.

[nawhite]

A college friend of my wife and mine got a job working remotely recently and decided she wanted to spend some time in Colorado. So we're renting her a room in our house for the summer. So far it has been mostly good. She can let the dog out if we stay at work late and she is cleaner than either my wife or I so it works as a positive incentive for us. At the same time, its odd to turn a corner and there is another person in the house. Or that its not really ok for me to just walk into a room in my house. Not bad, just still working on getting used to it.

[Oscar_C]

I could do it forever, mostly because it keeps the cost of living really low.

For now, living in a multi-generational house  I'd live with my parents and siblings after purchasing a house to make the mortgage easier.

Once I have a first rental property, I'd be a live-in landlord with some people I know to pay down the rental property mortgage quicker

Now I I ever found somebody special, I'd change my mind and live on my  own.

But for now, I have no qualms about it, I like having company around.

[Mr. Frugalwoods]

I once lived in a shared housing situation where:

• Most things of value I owned were stolen by one meth-head roommate who did the same to everyone else in the house and then disappeared.
• There was a hole the the floor of the kitchen that you could fall through into the basement
• My roommates destroyed several decent pots and pans through mis-use
• And the pièce de résistance: One the roommates died (of natural causes) in his room and we didn't figure it out for a week... until the smell became apparent.

But, it was $225/month.  So it had that going for it!

Needless to say I was very happy to leave that behind.  The next roommate I had was my wife.

[limeandpepper]

Far out, some of the stories here! Orgies, deaths... crazy stuff.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I am the main tenant in my current apartment, and have always chosen people who seemed like responsible, non-partying types (or at least they won't bring the party into the house - they will party it up outside at bars and clubs instead). Worked out pretty well for me so far, the biggest problem I ever had was one housemate who was always about a couple weeks late with rent. It also helps that I'm only sub-letting out one room. I think the larger the share house is, the more difficult it is to get things under control.

[William]

I wrote about this last month on my blog: http://firstquarterfinance.com/room-off-craigslist/

I've rented rooms for several years.. and I LOVE IT!  Here's why: I get a cheaper place, I get wayy more amenities than my apartment would have, I get to play with pets that aren't ultimately my responsibility - it's all great!!!

A lot of people on the internets assume I wouldn't have privacy or whatever but that's never been a problem.  You just have to find someone who you get along with.  I could bring over girls every night if I really wanted to.

It's great!

[tanhanivar]

I like it when it's less anarchical  (reading He Died With A Felafel In His Hand was a formative experience). Nicest is to be owner and invite tenants. Best was my sister, because she was tidier than me but it was my house :)

[galliver]

I've never had a strong drive to live completely alone. Pretty tolerant of roommates as long as they aren't crazy/drug addicts. I've really lucked out with my last place (4 years of grad school). We had a sequence of 3 diff roomies the first 2 years but they were all very friendly and clean and helpful. Then we gave up on the 3rd roommate idea and it's just me and my roomie and her dog. Our standards match up, we're both cool with occasional entertaining like friends over for dinner or backyard cookouts, but don't do your classic "parties" (or orgies or whatever ;) ). She grew amazing tomatoes last year and I ate them all (with permission). Anyway, I'm sorry to/for everyone who had experiences with terrible roommates and had it ruined for them. It's much better when it's a good person (not necessarily someone you're bff's with).

Apparently my limitation is that I don't want to cohabitate with my boyfriend *and* someone else on a permanent basis. :) 1-BR of our own for us this summer!

I've rented rooms for several years.. and I LOVE IT!  Here's why: I get a cheaper place, I get wayy more amenities than my apartment would have, I get to play with pets that aren't ultimately my responsibility - it's all great!!!

I've really enjoyed renting a "house with a dog." Of course the dog belongs to my roommate and not the house, but the point is the same. Pets with all the fun and none of the poop-cleanup.

[apfroggy0408]

Live at home til I was 20 for first 2 years of school, then shared an apartment with a guy in his mid 30s who I went to school for the next year. The following summer and last semester of school shared a house with 3 other people, 1 couple and another girl. All went well and I personally loved sharing a house with 2 girls and 2 guys. It's nice to be around different people that live well together.

Started working after that and lived in a 2400 sq ft house by myself for about a year, paying too much in rent, far too far away from work but it was nice to have my own place. But I often drove 15 minutes away on the weekend to hang out with others. Then the owner of the house decided not to pay her mortgage.

Moved in in the last minute with some guys from work even farther away from work but about half the living expenses. We get along well but the house is kinda small for all of us. It's nice to not be lonely but I absolutely despise sharing bathrooms with another guy. Last roommate I shared a bathroom with was a girl and was very clean...

I'm not really sure what I'll be doing as I plan on moving work in the next few months. I might buy a fixer upper house to turn a profit on in a good neighborhood we'll see though.