Author Topic: Complicated and Creative Living Situation Over the Summer  (Read 975 times)

clarkfan1979

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Complicated and Creative Living Situation Over the Summer
« on: February 11, 2017, 03:51:42 PM »
My wife and I currently live in Hawaii. I am a college prof and she is a substitute teacher. We have spent the last two summers in Colorado to be closer to her family (May 7th - August 15th). The last two summers we lived in an RV that we purchased for $9300. This summer we are renting a one-bedroom apartment from a family friend for only $950/month. It's about 550 sq. ft. It's big enough for us, but not for visitors. We have a baby on the way. When my parents come visit this summer from out of state, I think I will let them stay in our 1-bedroom apartment and we will stay in the RV. The apartment is less than 2 miles (5 minutes) from her sisters house and 50 minutes from her parents.

We have a college rental that is 45 minutes away from her sisters and 1h 30 minutes from her parents. Right now it's a 5 bedroom/2 bath house (2200 sq. ft. total). Two bedrooms are upstairs and 3 bedrooms are downstairs in a finished basement. One of the bedrooms is large (13.5 x 23.5), so it could easily be split in half to make a 6th bedroom.

I think we are going to add the 6th bedroom and add one bathroom downstairs. There is a large utility room. I will cut the utility room in half to create the 3rd bathroom. The cost will probably be $6000-$10,000 depending on how much work I want to do myself. We also need to add a basement entrance for our separate 1 bedroom apartment. I'm thinking $5000-$10,000 for this as well.

Our 1 bedroom apartment will consist of three rooms. It will include the new bathroom and 2 bedrooms. One of the bedrooms will be a kitchenette/living room for us and the other a regular bedroom. It will probably be around 400 sq. ft. including the bathroom. I know 400 sq. ft. is small, but it's much bigger than our RV that we did the last two years. Also, our current place in Hawaii is 332 sq. ft.

Here's where it gets tricky. I can put two separate entrances on the new bathroom and one of the bedrooms. As a result, when we are not there, it can convert to a 5 bedroom 3 bath. The 6th bedroom will be locked and have our stuff in it. When we are in town over the summer, it converts back to a 4 bed/2 bath for the main house.

I am considering 4 options.

1) Don't do any renovations and continue to collect $2200/month as a 5 bed/2 bath. Live closer to family in the 550 sq. ft. apartment.

2) Add the 3rd bathroom and 6th bedroom and collect $2500/month in rent for an annual lease. Not going to live there, so no extra cost for a separate entrance.

3) Add the 3rd bathroom and 6th bedroom and collect $2200/month for an annual lease. However, spend the money on the separate entrance. Because our stuff will be stored in the 6th bedroom, it's a 5 bed/3 bath during the semester. However, they will lose one bedroom and one bathroom over the summer, so it's a 4 bed/2 bath over the summer. This would be kind of an odd lease, but for a college town it would work because at least one kid is going to go home for the summer.

4) Add the 3rd bathroom and 6th bedroom and collect $2500/month for a 9 month lease. However, it's a 5 bedroom/3 bath because the 6th bedroom has our stuff in it. Spend the money on the separate entrance and live in the one bedroom apartment. However, airbnb the main house for $300/night. Assuming 50% occupancy this would be $4500/month. We could also enjoy the main house and have friends over on the nights that it's not rented out.

I'm leaning toward option #4. Everything proposed is currently legal. However, airbnb.com laws could change in the future. If airbnb.com laws ever change, then I would transition to option #3. My wife wouldn't be thrilled with option #3 because she likes to have friends over. However, my argument is that even with just the small apartment we still have a big yard. We can still have BBQ parties outside. The town is Fort Collins, CO. I don't think they have enough hotels to keep up with visitor demand in the summer. Lots of summer visitors, but very few winter visitors.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!