Introduction/Overview

I'm starting this blog to document my experience as a live-in-landlord & my expansion into the traditional landlord role.

How It Started:

At the ripe old age of 22 I decided I wanted to buy a house. I really thought I'd be at least 30 before I bought at house, but with interest rates so low and rental prices so high, I couldn't stomach paying rent. So the hunt began. I ended up settling on a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house in the very outskirts of Philadelphia (still within limits). I looked at a few houses that were only 1.5 bathrooms, but with the thought of having roommates/tenants in the back of my mind, I knew I didn't want to share a bathroom. At this point I wasn't completely set on having roommates (my family was telling me I was crazy), but I wanted the option to be there in case I decided to go that route.

I closed on my house in late January and spent the next 2.5 months preparing the property. It was in pretty good shape, but the previous owners had cats. Cats are my krytonite. It took close to 2 months for me to be able to breath in my own home - for the first few nights I couldn't even stay here. After the first month my family was telling me to rent out the whole property because I looked and sounded terrible. I've never cleaned so much in my entire life, but eventually it did get better.

Fast forward to April and I was ready to search for my first roommate. I made a listing on Craigslist & met with a few people. There are a lot of scammers and several slightly-strange people - so beware. I emailed back & forth with one woman for about a week, and then we decided to meet for dinner to see if we got along in person. It was almost like roommate dating. We seemed to get along (foreshadowing perhaps), so she came over & saw the house. All was well and she was set to move in the next weekend.

And that's how it began. Roommate #1 (we'll call her Alexis) paid $525 a month plus 1/2 of water, gas, electric, & Internet. I thought having 1 roommate would suffice, but I began traveling more and more for work, was home less and less, and saw the benefit of doubling my rental income for minimal extra inconvenience.

So in May I began advertising (once again for craiglist) to fill the 3rd and final bedroom. One month later I had her - a young girl just out of college & in a similar position in life as myself. She (we'll call her Barb) paid $500 a month and all three of us paid for 1/3 of water, gas, electric, & Internet.

I had a full house & was bringing in the money, until Roommate #1 randomly decided to disappear, leave all of her things in her room, & not pay her rent. That's a blog post for another day.

The advertising began again & took a lot longer this time. I began advertising in mid-July and didn't have someone move in until mid-September. We'll call this roommate Cary.

And that's a brief roommate history and brings us up to speed - I'm currently collecting $1025 + 2/3 of water, gas, electricty, and internet. We aren't best friends, but we all get along & have pleasant conversations when we see eachother in the kitchen or living room.