Submitted by [deleted] t3_yp7b0p in personalfinance
Hello all,
Single male about to become a home owner of a 3 bed, 2 bath house. My best friend and I (since 7th grade) have always wanted to move in with each other so we could game and just be homies and support each other.
He plans on joining me once he handles things on his end. I should have the house before then.
Initially he wanted to go 50/50 on the house buying process, but based on our current locations and situations, I deemed it as a terrible idea. We're not homosexual, so we'll never be married to each other, and buying a house with someone you aren't married to sounds like a terrible idea if one person experiences a life changing event and needs to move.
So I went ahead and bought the house and I'm just going to charge him rent at a homie discount to live with me. The purpose of the rent is solely to help me with the mortgage, as interest rates have made monthly payments a doozy.
My question is: Should I create my own LLC and treat him like an ordinary tennant? Or should we just do everything as is with promises of rent being paid? He IS my childhood friend and I have no doubt in my mind that we'll ever come to some sort of quarrel, but there's a voice in my head telling me to do this officially.
That being said, how would you all handle renting to someone but also living in the same house? Should I just print a blank rent agreement from online and have him sign? Should I open up an LLC?
I plan on charging a flat amount for the room (with the homie discount) plus 50% of all utility bills, since we'll be using that equally. Is that fair?