Hey just wondering peoples thoughts on the boarding option of renting out a house. Preliminary research indicates that a house that would rent to a family for $440pw (four bedroom with view to split some rooms to make a 5 bedroom), and boarding would bring in (allegedly) $150 – $220 per person. Additional cleaning expense required.
This house is not near a uni or train station, but I've been told boarding doesn't just attract students and low income earners but divorcees etc…..
Anyone ventured down this path with great success?
Ta!
Very hard to fill a room let alone a house. People are picky. Even when you can let a room TO is high.
Boarding attracts usually the worst kind of tenancies .. simply because its a cheap option.
You'll get the smokers who have no problem falling asleep with a lit cigarette, the mentally ill who are just looking for a place to stay and the migrant who hasnt quite learnt yet how to live in a house without a thatched roof.
Your insurance company will love you (as the risk of something happening to the place trebles) .. your property manager will hate you (basically for the same reason) and your wallet wont be much better off because of both.
There you are .. from someone who took on a boarding hourse for eight months and sold it off at a marginal break-even just to get rid of it … the answer is NO.
good:
rental income is higher
multiple stream of incomebad:
tenant turn over is high,
more maintenance issue due to high turn over and more usage of kitchen, bathroom….
security, more people (tenant's friends) have access to the house,….. lost of good…..if you have energy and time to run the boarding it may be a good choice to gain higher rental income from each house
xdrew- point taken! i hear you load and clear!
sounds like at this point in my life its not worth the effort. thanks all!
I have done it very successfully and bought a house near to shops, bus, uni and trainline, only 11km from CBD. Previous tenants paid $275/week rent. I spent approx $3k painting it and $2-3k furnishing it, put locks on all bedroom doors and have leased out the 3 bedrooms to 1 couple and 2 singles for an income now of $610 a week, but I cover all outgoings (bills, internet etc) which equate to roughly $70 a week. Still a great result and allowing me to get a much higher income on the house whilst waiting to develop it.
It is more work. It is stressful. I have been fortunate with mostly great tenants, and I attribute my success to having lived in these houses previously, both in Perth and overseas. Having lived like that myself I am careful to ask the right questions when selecting tenants. I self-manage this property. I focus on international students or working holiday makers, have had a large number of English/Irish through there. The proximity lends itself to these tenants.
it can be done but you must have alot of patients and time.
I like to lease out to only international students or international working visa.
avoid the local centrelink mobs, they are always trouble and especially those that asks too much question, thinking they know the laws and their rights… etcSome great comments here. I'm looking at getting a four bedder and converting it to an 8 bedder and renting to students on separate leases – I am told this will make the property a boarding house whether I like it or not.
I am interested to know:
– what extra obligations I will take on as it's a boarding house?
– more on the extra time required to manage
– how much help are property managers? The one I'm looking at specializes in this
– What extra costs outside of the norm I would need to budget for?
I am aware that you need to meet extra fire safety standards, and these have both upfront and ongoing costs. This seems like something I would need to get my head around.
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