Saturday, July 14, 2007

Subletting Room

Okay so we're subletting our spare room to DH's best friend. He was going to live till the end of the month for free and then try to sublet elsewhere but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Now the question is how much to charge him? Obviously with him here for 6 weeks our utitlies will increase.

We're already storing all his stuff in our spare room, and he has a private bath that is clean. And our place is new. Big deal where we live, a lot of places out here are old and not clean. But he's gotta live with our dogs, and he's not a dog person.

Question is our utilities are for cable, internet, electric, and gas are $350/month. Cable, internet, and phone are $100/month, with electric/gas being $250 (balanced billing). So the question is what is fair? Also he'll be eating our food probably and using our toiletries probably. Also since he doesn't have a car, he'll probably have to carpool with DH to work, because they work in the same area. But he's DH's best friend so obviously a discount is in order, actually we're porbably lucky he's paying anything, if it were my BIL we might not be able to charge.

What would be a reasonable amount?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What are the total expenses for the month, divided by four equals what it costs you per week. What is the total square footage of the apartment? Divide the weekly amount by the square footage will give you what it costs to run your apartment per square foot. What is the square footage of the room he will be using? Multiple that by the cost per square foot and you will have the dollar amount to charge him.
Unless he doesn't have the money, then it should be on a sliding scale to what he can afford.

Anonymous said...

kinda sad to charge a best friend for just six weeks...shouldnt u guys be a lil more gracious with the six figure income?

i mean i would understand for sure if it was 3 months or 6 months...but 6 weeks??

Living Almost Large said...

I learned the hard way a few years ago, charge rent so the person moves out. BIL moved in and didn't move out until I found him a place when we didn't charge him RENT! Rent helps the person feel like they should leave.

I like our privacy and while we don't need the money I want to make sure the person leaves. I enjoy company but having to deal with roommates is always not fun. And worse when they are friends. So this way we encourage him to leave.

Ever tried to evict a relative? I drove my BIL to over 30 different apartments. So you can see how hard it was to get him out of our condo.

Anonymous said...

It's not technically 'rent'. it's called: pulling your own weight. You can't expect friends to pay for your for 6 -7 weeks. Days, maybe. But not weeks or months.

Anonymous said...

Ideally your friend will give you something without you having to ask. Unfortunately, people do get taken advantage of a lot too. If you do come up with a number, I'd suggest, not considering 'extra' things like cable and itneret, phone, etc in your rate. Only maybe take a portion of things he will actually affect, such as water, electricity, etc. However, he wont' make as big of dent as you think for 6 weeks.

And if he's living with you for that amount of time, he's likely not in the best of finances or situations himself?? Maybe a couple hundred bucks, and then definitely dont ask for anyting more, just let him give???? Good luck

Living Almost Large said...

He's in a good financial position, he's already working. He just hasn't found a place to live and so far isn't looking, which is bugging me already after 1 week.

I may have to be proactive and find him a place.