Houses and Home Ownership

I mean I follow a lot of leftist discourse on landlords so I’m not sure I can be of much help here.

But I would personally be very cautious about increasing the density of my living situation given the pandemic.

Sorry, I should clarify.

They currently have a home that they will continue to live in.

The new 3 family house they plan on purchasing will be 3 rented apartments.

Yeah its still a huge financial risk (hope they aren’t using their existing house as collateral). So many people laid off, hours cut, salary capped, potential for more layoffs from the economic instability there’s no way to know any tenants they have will 100 percent be able to pay rent. I’d only say its worth the risk if they can service the mortgage on that rental property without needing paying tenants in a situation like this.

We plan to have a friend move in, their current living situation is becoming toxic and they need to escape. We are drawing up a living agreement to lay out ground rules. We don’t plan on charging rent until they get back on their feet. The current plan is that they gift us an agreed upon amount of money when they have steady income.

What kind of paperwork/legal stuff do I need to be aware of for bringing another legal resident into my home?

This will be entirely dependent on your state and local municipal renting laws.

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I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

I suspect nearly anything you draw up will be nonstandard, and based on your local laws may give this person a long-term right to remain in your home. This could of course prove problematic if things don’t work out as you expect.

It’s also difficult to say that what you describe would be able to be construed as a “gift” rather than “tax evasion.”

Depending on how much you trust your friend, you may want to get a lawyer to advise you for a one-time fee.

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Also, assume that any end date of your friend staying is flexible, and any money they may pay just doesn’t exist.

If you’re still happy for them to stay both longer than you expect, and get no money in return, then let them move in. No amount of paperwork will make it more likely that all your original plans will work out.

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Option 2 besides “be prepared to be flexible:” set a firm out date and be prepared to kick them out. I have seen many friends get into situations with a long-term stayabout because they were too nice to kick them out.

Hopefully that will not come to pass, but prepare yourselves anyway.

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Not a lawyer
When renting to a friend or family member in your house of resident the tax liability on that gets real all over the place. Because the difference between a reimbursement and a rent payment starts to blur.

You can report any rental income as income and this allows you to deduct whatever % of the house is used by the roommate and shared spaces. Most likely this will reduce the income made to near or less than zero. It almost always comes out a wash. Unless you are charging above market rate rent. That said if they are only reimbursing you for Utilities and stuff used, that wouldn’t have to be reported.

You should definitely have a tenant agreement with your friend, it should specify things dates to “get your shit together” and start paying. Shit can go sideways and I’ve seen friends and family live rent free in people’s house for years after.

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Adulting to the max as my wife’s due date approaches.

Getting my steam boiler serviced and having all of the individual radiators looked at for the first time (only moved in last spring. It may have been some of the steam valves were blocked and that hampered circulation or there were fluid build ups. Also seeing about insulating all of the pipes in the basement since we lose a lot of heat down there in the winter.

Also the probable carpenter bees and squirrel infestation from this summer also being dealt with this week. Fingers crossed pest control goes well.

November 29th I’m moving out from my parents’ house for the first time. Gonna be in a studio apartment that I’m kind of already in love with and due to weird shit about the current housing market in the area is an absolute fuckin steal. I’m using a lot of savings to do it though, an investment into my mental health to make sure I get something big out of my first semester back in school. At the point where we’re filling out paperwork to get the lease and setting up autopay on rent. I know I don’t have enough income to make rent but I’ve got enough savings that whether or not I can pay it isn’t an issue, just a question of how much of a dent it makes in what I’ve got for a financial cushion.

I hope it’s not too much to post my homewarming registry here. DM me if you need a shipping address cause I don’t wanna post that publicly. I’m not expecting much, I just know there’s some folks on here who might help me a bit and won’t see it in the other places I’ve posted it.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1OURITESN9NDA/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2?_encoding=UTF8&type=wishlist

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The photo at the top of this image literally shows our apartment in Berlin, which we loved but moved out of to buy a place bigger and cheaper.

Seems like they are doing an ok job of regulating rent, but not an OK job of building affordable housing.

There is so much space in Berlin! Two entire airports have now been closed, and the first freed up way too much space that even the most ambitious developers could use.

But then there was a referendum and Berliners decided zero new development on the Tempelhof field, and leave it 100% park.

Sounds like a good idea, but Berliners actually decided to increase rent for everyone in the city, even those who have never and will never visit the park. It’s not even a good park! Only good for flying kites.

This house has Qualities.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/43-Courthouse-Dr-Guildhall-VT-05905/193818039_zpid/

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I kind of want to buy that house for my mom.

She would be into it. For several reasons.

Those photos went from normal to what did I just see? really quick!

AirBNB opportunity with the county jail lockup.