Post: #1

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Post: #2

"I'm 23 years old and doing this while going to school full time"

^You are light years ahead of most 23yo guys.

Great idea.

Post: #3

Amazing work! Some quick questions:

1) In order to get the loan, did you need a co-signer or did you have a job?

2) How did you convince someone to put down $850 a month for a room? Since your tenants are international students, I assume they all came from money?

Post: #4

Thanks for sharing this info, plus one from me

Just few questions:

Is the landlord ok with you renting those rooms to other people? I was looking to do the same thing in London and landlords used to straight up ask me why do I need a 5 bedroom house when I am moving in by myself. I had tried to tell them that I have a lot of international friends that come to see me a lot but they were not buying that shit. What did you tell your landlord about renting a 6 bedroom house and then renting it to other people?

What city are you based?

Why don't you rent another house and do the same thing? This way you will have more paper coming in.

You may also want to consider using airbnb for this.

Post: #5

Just make sure you are careful with who you bring in and don't think of getting laid with the girls.

I know of a guy who did what you did and started renting to hot chicks hoping to get somewhere. Instead they would leave faucets on etc. Wrecked him pretty good.

Post: #6

This is a great idea, +1 for the detailed and informative post.

Post: #7

If canadian law is similar to US law you are probably breaking the terms of your lease.

Most US real estate leases state that you need the landlord's explicit permission to sub-lease which in effect you are doing. If your landord ever finds out he could cancel the lease and kick you out.

hats off for your idea though. So far it seems to be a goldmine.

Post: #8

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Post: #9

Double post

Post: #10

I had tought about something similar but forgot about it when I saw that most places wanted 2-3 months rent as deposit up front, but I had less cash flow then.

Perhaps I could do it now. I have two banks ringing me weekly about a "preapproved" loan.

I like the idea of having international students, they tend to attract tenants.

Could you give an outline of your ad?

Post: #11

I see that you've found a way to keep this amicable with the landlord, which is great. But what about taxes? With no contract with any of your tenants, isn't there a possibility of the state busting you for illegal renting? Or you can rent in Canada without worrying about that?

Post: #12

Nice, but how is this business model scalable? More rented houses would mean more effort and burden. So is there a way?

Post: #13

Sounds like your rent is all of the work you do to keep it going.

Great plan for young guys

Post: #14

Is this possible to do in the US?

I know there are a lot of laws against sub leasing

A better idea if you had the cash flow would be to buy a 6 bedroom house and get the mortgage paid off like that

Post: #15

You can do this in the US. A lease is a contract, you can negotiate the allowance of subleasing on there.

Post: #16

(12-17-2013 01:51 PM)testos111 Wrote:  Nice, but how is this business model scalable? More rented houses would mean more effort and burden. So is there a way?

i was thinking the same thing : maintenance

Post: #17

I'm surprised no one has pointed out: you can't just throw someone's shit out when you want to evict. If they don't vacate voluntarily, you have to obtain a court order to remove them, otherwise one of these kids will summon the long dick of the law against you.

Post: #18

(12-18-2013 03:44 AM)calculus Wrote:  I'm surprised no one has pointed out: you can't just throw someone's shit out when you want to evict. If they don't vacate voluntarily, you have to obtain a court order to remove them, otherwise one of these kids will summon the long dick of the law against you.

Fair point but this agreement sounds really informal and I doubt he'll see any legal situations. Very unlikely international students are a) going to know the laws in his country or b) going to want to get wrapped up in a court case while studying abroad. Though it would be really uncool to take advantage of their situation, I imagine with his target market the headaches will be minimal.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #19

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Post: #20

(12-18-2013 05:13 PM)CaptainChardonnay Wrote:  No one I rent to is on the lease. I don't know the law but my name is on the lease so they're on my property. But as BB already points out, yeah its very informal. These students are here to have a great time and study, they don't want drama. In the house we treat each other as family. Also, I don't hide to my tenants what I'm doing, they're fully aware of the money situation and how it works, I also make it pretty clear that I took out a loan to pay for everything and that I must pay it back. With my place, all they do is come, pay rent, live, and we go out and have fun occasionally taking trips. With other places, they must sign a lease, don't know who else they'll be living with, don't know what to expect, maybe buy then sell furniture, and at the end of it, they must find someone to take over the lease from them when they leave the country. With my place its less headache.

Don't get me wrong, I think your business model is great, but eventually you will want to get rid of a tenant, and discover he won't leave voluntarily. Even without a written lease, they get the same legal rights as any other renter.
So when that happens, make sure you go by the book. In my state in the US, you give 15 days notice to evict, then after that 15 days you file an eviction request in court, then two or three weeks later you show up to court and get a judgement. Yes, this means he gets a month or more of free rent, but that's how it goes.

Post: #21

I really want this to work for you, but man I see so many variable and ways this can go wrong.

Post: #22

Foreign exchange students are usually wealthy and like the M2M renting. Its provides comfort, albeit at a slight higher premium.

They also don't really know the laws and don't really care to get into too much trouble.

Great hustle.

Post: #23

I actually pulled a similar thing off! Good situation but can be tough and stressful when someone is in there that you can't blatantly kick out, but makes your or other people's lives annoying..

Post: #24

Great hussle +1 from me

Post: #25

In Canada, rental income is deemed taxable income. If you're not declaring this rental income as taxable income. You'll be under tax evasion. However if you're a student and it is your sole and most of your income. The amount of taxes will be most likely be null and you'll get deductions are you're a student. OP. Are you in Canada then?