Long time roommates in house that I own, should I have a lease?
I currently own my home and share it with three roommates who pay me rent. They are all long time friends and like family to me. One roommate has lived with me for 6 years, the other for 4 years, and the third is my brother who has lived with me for about 9 months. It is pretty informal and we treat it as all of us sharing living expenses (split the mortgage cost and utilities with some adjustments for living space and my costs in acquiring the mortgage). We previously shared an apartment, then I bought a house a year ago and we all moved into it. They are all very responsible and never cause any problems or have issues paying rent. My mortgage costs $1100 and they pay me a total of $1150 (I take care of all the utilities).
I am saving money aggressively to afford a down payment on a rental property, probably in the 80k-100k range.
My question is this: Now that I am trying to get into the real estate investing game, will having a formal lease agreement for this make it easier to get financed for my first investment property.
Also, will it be advantageous as far as taxes go?