San Jose Property Management How-To: Roommates Rent vs. Liability

In San Jose, there are two large universities in the area; San Jose State and Santa Clara University. Because of those schools, the need and desire for housing that will accommodate roommates comes up a lot. Renting out to roommates has a huge upside. You can often charge a little more in rent when you have three or four roommates. So, it can be a good thing financially.

The downside of renting out to roommates is that each individual student often cannot afford more rent if it becomes necessary. So, if you have four roommates, there’s always a chance that one of them will fall in love and move out or drop out of school. Things happen with young people to change their paths, and when that happens, the whole tenancy can be defeated because the remaining roommates often cannot afford to make up for that one person’s missing rent.

Another consideration with roommates is that young people are often not as skilled with basic maintenance. Their age group will not be able to attend to the repairs that people in their parents’ generation might. Therefore, you can end up with a repair differential.

At Aborn Properties, we were concerned when we first started renting out properties to college roommates. We worried they would be irresponsible and that they would trash the houses. We have since learned that usually does not happen. They tend to be respectful towards the place they live and college students are also usually brighter than the average tenant. We have not had the additional problems with property mistreatment that we anticipated.

As you consider tenants for your rental property in San Jose, remember that roommates are always a good option, especially if you live close to one of the colleges. There are going to be good and bad tenants in all demographics and situations, and as long as you are screening well, you have an excellent chance of attracting ideal tenants who are looking for roommate situations.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at Aborn Properties if you’d like to discuss this option further. We can help you determine whether this is a good idea for you and your property.