I don't know why I didn't do it sooner, but one day many
years ago, I decided to try renting rooms in my home. I was
young and single, and had a nice mobile home on small piece
of property. I found that it was easy to rent out the other
two bedrooms. Suddenly, I had thousands of dollars extra
each year.

Why Room Rentals?

In many towns where the rents are high, single people are
forced to share apartments with others. They inevitably have
problems with splitting the bills, what to do if one person
is late with their share of the rent, who made which phone
calls, etc. So when they see a room for in a nice home, with
everything from local cals to cable TV included in the rent,
they like the idea.

Room Rentals - The How To

Include everything. Don't set yourself up for arguments
about who owes what for utilities, or who watches the cable
TV more. Cancel long distance plans, get a phone card, and
just have local service. If utilities run high, raise the
rent. Just don't be tempted into any "share" arrangements
for anything.

The value in this simple way is obvious. While others fought
with landlords and roommate-friends, my renters stayed for
years, with no household bills to pay, and no money issues
for us to argue about. I had them pay weekly or bi-weekly,
according to their paydays, so they wouldn't have to save up
for monthly rent.

Regulations in some places prevent renting rooms, but they
are rarely enforced, and are being legaly challenged more
and more. It is difficult to justify a system that allows a
family with ten kids to live in a house, while
discriminating against a household of three or four people -
just because they are unrelated.

Room Rental Profits

I no longer live in Traverse City, Michigan, but in a decent
house there, you can get $100 per week for a room. With two
rooms to rent out, that's $10,400 per year. Most of that is
profit, since household bills don't go up much with two more
people in the house. If you don't mind the company, that's a
lot of extra cash.


About the Author
Steve Gillman has invested in mobile homes and other real
estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a
beautiful house (not a mobile) he and his wife bought for
$17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com