Do I rent my house or no?

Question

I’m 21 with a 4 bed 2 bath house and a desire to be self employed with rental properties one day. I own a house worth roughly 320k with 230k left on my loan. I have a sorority from a nearby university interested in renting it, which would allow me to cash flow $1k a month after all expenses. If I rented it I’d end up in an apartment but I’d be making more money but a lot more potential issues. Not sure if I should go with that route or continue to rent a couple rooms

Kerlous Tadres · Answer

You're in a solid spot, owning a 4-bed at 21 with $1K/month potential cash flow is impressive.

Renting to the sorority could be a great move if you're ready to treat it like a real investment. Just be aware of the added responsibilities more wear and tear, possible zoning issues, and more management.

If you’re not ready for that, renting rooms while living there is still a great way to learn and reduce expenses.Long-term, think about your next move if this helps you qualify for another property and gets you closer to your goal of self-employment, it might be worth it. Just have a solid lease and know what you're signing up for.

Ryan Rominger · Answer

That’s a solid position to be in at 21! Renting to the sorority could be a great way to boost cash flow and scale toward your goal of self-employment, but it does come with added risks—higher wear and tear, potential turnover issues, and the need for solid lease terms to protect yourself.

If you’re comfortable managing those challenges, it could be a smart move. Otherwise, continuing to rent a couple of rooms gives you control while keeping you in the house. Consider how involved you want to be as a landlord and how much stability you need before deciding.

Albert Bui · Answer

One way to look at it is to compare the rents you’d get to a normal long term tenant on the open market with what this sorority will end up paying you to see if the juice is worth the squeeze or not.If the premium above market makes sense in your situation then you could proceed with the sorority just make sure you have a ironclad lease agreement drawn up with some potential out clauses in case the tenant doesn’t turn out how you had envisioned it within the confines of the local laws of course.

Hope that helps.