Determining Rent by the Tenants

Off Campus Housing offers a unique opportunity for many landlords. Students who are not related share rooms. This allows you to have more tenants in your property than if each person had their own bedroom. While you should always consult your local housing authority as to how many people you are allowed in a residence, you should consider how many people can comfortably live in the property before setting your rent amount.

Once you have determined how many tenants you will have, investigate what other landlords are charging for similar properties. You can view the listings on this site and others to see that. Check what local apartment houses are charging for individual rooms or multi-room apartments. Also check the newspapers and ask other tenants who live in the area what they pay. If you can, find out how much it costs to live on campus in the college dorms.

With some simple analysis, you can decide on what each person should pay to live in your property. If you are renting a single-family house that will hold 5 tenants, multiply the amount each person should pay by 5 to calculate the total rent. Then, regardless of how many tenants you have to rent the property, you have a set amount for the whole house.

It should be generally less expensive for tenants to share a single-family house than to live in individual apartments. Also students who share rooms will likely pay less than the others that have their own room. As rents in your area increase or as your expenses rise, you can raise the amount you calculate for each person and recalculate the total for the whole property. When tenants go to compare their living expenses between properties, they will see that you offer a low cost alternative to other property types.