Things To Think About When Sharing Your Home

So if you are here because you are thinking about renting out a room in your Singapore property home, I have some helpful advice for you on things you have to consider when sharing your home. I learned alot about being a landlord, room-mate and friend last year when I rented out 2 rooms in my home to friends of my son.

It was quite  an interesting year, to say the least! Since I have been used to having other people in my home for quite sometime, this was no new experience, but renting out rooms to them was. One thing I can say is that during  this span of time I certainly learned alot about the younger generation -their music, likes and dislikes plus a few other things I can’t even start to tell you about!

But to get to the nuts and bolts of this story, there are various things that I would have definitely done differently just to avoid confusion:

First off, I would have force myself to draft a rental agreement with all the standard rental terms like real renters do. With that in mind I will give you some tips on renting out a room or sharing your home (from someone who has been there and done that!)

1) Like I said, make sure you draft up a regular rental agreement. Put it in writing, with all the terms laid out, just like anyone else would. Even if it’s your best friend, just do it !! Just to avoid misunderstanding , put it in a categorical and clear words what you  what you expect of them as a renter and what they expect from you as a landlord and room-mate.

2) Have specific rules about storage- do you offer storage or does the renter also need to find a storage facility in addition to renting a room from you?

3) Make a rule regarding  food! I can’t stress this enough! If anything,allow the renter to have a small refrigerator in their room and add a little expense on top for the electricity to run the fridge. (believe me this will solve a lot of headaches)

4) Make house rules just like you do in any family in HK property- about doing dishes, taking out the trash, so on and so forth. This needs to be emphasized - otherwise YOU may end up doing all of the above. ( and if need be, add an additional rental charge and employ  a maid - that will solves alot of problems!)

5) Have definite written rules about noise and what’s OK and what’s not OK. ( I can’t begin to tell you how crazy I went listening to my walls being boom- boomed)

6) Have definite written rules concerning visitors, and overnighters. (It’s so annoying waking up in the middle of the night to find someone in your Malaysia property home on the way to the bathroom at 3am in the morning -and you’ve never seen them before in your life)

Looking back last year with my young room-mates, I actually have to say that I learned quite a bit about other people and making compromises. There are times I missed my privacy terribly, but I was also often glad for the company, and there were also times that I thought that I had bitten off more than I could chew….

So is renting out a room or sharing your home for everyone? Certainly not- but sometimes it makes sense to do so- maybe you are in a home and there is a need to save some money, maybe you are lonely and you would love to have  some companionship, maybe you just don’t like living by yourself or just want to help someone else get back on their feet and also help yourself at the the same time. Renting out a room can solve all of of the above-mentioned problems, but don’t forget to remember:

Get it on all in writing!!!