Renting by the Room

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Renting by the Room

Charlie Bemis
Member since 2025 · 23 posts · 5 votes

Has anyone tried renting by the room in a multifamily? E.g. A duplex with 6 total beds - each side gets each of the 3 rooms rented out separately?

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  • Tim KirkPro Member
    Member since 2026 · 86 posts · 48 votes
    3w
    How many bathrooms
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    • Charlie Bemis
      OP
      Member since 2025 · 23 posts · 5 votes
      3w

      @Tim Kirk good question, for the sake of this hypothetical, let's say 1.5 for each unit 

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  • Stacy RaskinBusiness Member
    Lender · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 497 votes
    3w

    Renting by the room generally has more turnover and more work to keep the rooms rented. It depends on if you want to do the work or pay someone else to do the work- if you think the upside is there in making enough money to justify the extra work. If renting near a college or if in a location where people are more likely to want to stay in the location for a certain period of time- for example a school semester or school year that might cut down the possibility of turnover. 

    Generally helpful to have house rules around cleaning or noise as those can be issues for roommates as there are issues that may arise out of that. That is especially if people aren't on the same page as to what the environment will be like when living in a shared space. Helpful to have written house rules that roommates / people sharing the space that the new tenants are aware of and sign off on before moving in so there's less likely to have problems around those issues. 

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  • Andrew FreedBusiness Member
    Investor · Worcester, MA · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3w

    @Charlie Bemis Great question. I know people use padsplit to help with rent by the room and all the administrative burden it causes. More or less, you have way more vacancy and tenants are more transient. Nonetheless if you have a good process and can fill units quickly, it can be possible. I'd definitely explore utilizing padsplit to implement since I know the best operators use this platform. Best of luck figuring it out!

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  • Dan HandfordPro Member
    Investor · Lexington, SC · Member since 2018 · 779 posts · 501 votes
    3w

    Charlie, room-by-room leasing can improve gross income, but the operating model matters as much as the bedroom count. I would verify local occupancy rules, licensing, parking, utility capacity, insurance, and whether each side of the duplex can legally function with unrelated occupants. Then underwrite higher turnover, shared-area cleaning, utilities, furnishing, and management time. A six-bedroom property can create six leasing decisions instead of two. Is your expected renter pool students, traveling professionals, or longer-term local tenants?

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