EP. 1209 KICK IT AND RIP IT... SHARED RENTAL HOMES.

Ever found yourself reminiscing about the golden days of college dorms or pondering the economics of communal living? We did just that, fueled by the pressing issue of sky-high rents and the resurgence of share houses. Zanthany, a veteran of shared living, joins us to peel back the layers of cohabitation, from the thrill of slashing living costs to the drama of divvying up the bills. Our conversation may whisk you back to the '80s with a touch of "Revenge of the Nerds" nostalgia, but don't be fooled—this is all about today's real estate pressures and the gritty reality of managing a household with strangers-turned-housemates.

Strap in as we navigate the murky waters of shared expenses and the pitfalls of playing landlord among friends. Zanthany shares a cautionary tale of transparency gone awry, leading to the loss of a friendship; a stark reminder that mixing money and mates requires a delicate touch. We don't just stop at anecdotes—our expertise as rental managing agents equips you with strategies for smooth sailing through lease renewals and household harmony. Whether you're on the northern beaches or nestled in the suburbs, tune in to equip yourself with the know-how for a prosperous and peaceful share house experience.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Okay, rental homes share rental homes are really, really getting popular. People are trying to save money with rents going up. They're getting better in their rental homes and share homes. Zanthony's got some exposure to it, and so do we as rental managing agents we're going to talk about this morning. Stay tuned, Lambda.

Speaker 2: 0:43

Lambda, lambda, lambda. What does that mean?

Speaker 1: 0:49

I think of fraternity homes, frat homes, a frat house, frat houses. When I think of frat houses, and when I grew up, there was a movie called Revenge of the Nerds, one of the frat houses was Lambda, Lambda, Lambda A little bit before my time.

Speaker 2: 1:10

I've not heard of that one before.

Speaker 1: 1:12

That's the second time this morning. Guys and girls, I've done this with Santhony. I also was talking about the song we Are the World, and you had no idea about where that came from.

Speaker 2: 1:24

I honestly didn't. I know the tune and I had no idea about where that came from. I honestly didn't. I know the tune and I know the song. I don't know who exactly sings it, but I don't know any of the context behind it or how it came about.

Speaker 1: 1:36

I'm getting old, ladies and gentlemen, I'm getting old. Now, Zanthony, you've been known to have a bit of a rip in your share house, where one of your buddies stopped talking to you and said this morning we're going to talk about the trials and tribulations of share homes, how they're perceived for rental agents, the benefits as tenants, where it can go wrong and all things A to Z.

Speaker 2: 2:06

So this all came about because last night I had read an article online that basically said that there was a share house in the inner west and there was one head of the household and she had sublet the rooms out to the remainder of people. So there were another four rooms that she had rented out, the end of the lease had come up for renewal and all of the four people beneath her wanted to go on the lease. She got herself into a bit of a sticky situation because she wasn't very transparent in the negotiations about the rental prices and, unbeknownst to the rest of the four people beneath her in that share household, they didn't know that she was living there rent free. So that got me thinking, and I've not been in the exact situation exact same situation but I have been in something similar whereby I was the head of the household at one of the rental properties that I was living in and I was doing everything from paying all of the bills, buying all of the shared household items like the toilet paper, the cooking oil, things like that.

Speaker 2: 3:17

I was staying in the smaller room as well and I was actually charging my housemate at the time more rent, that much more rent than I was paying. So when the end of our lease came up and we could either sign that lease together or we could move out and take our bond money out, it everything kind of came to a head and I actually lost a friendship over it because I wasn't very open and transparent with my housemate in the way that he was paying much more rent than me. So it is topical and it does happen and it is a very good way to save money living in a shared household. But I just think that you do need to be upfront and honest with everybody that you're staying in in the way of the shared expenses, inclusive of rent well, I can see two schools of thought there.

Speaker 1: 4:11

one you're running a business and businesses don't have to disclose their profits. Private business donors don't have to disclose their profits, their lack of profits or their humongous profits or anything about their profits. So I can see one thinking, ok, I'm running this like a business, yeah, and you know you're justifying it different ways. And then I can see the other guys that are saying, look, we thought one thing and we were led to believe one thing, and another thing actually was reality and that would have been a big gobsmacked with it. So interesting topic.

Speaker 2: 4:50

Well, renting by yourself is expensive. If you're a single person on that solo income, finding a place, in particular around the northern beaches, by yourself is expensive. What are we looking at?

Speaker 1: 5:03

550 a week on average for a small one better look, I was in a house yesterday that we sold for just short of two million dollars two years ago and we put a rental estimate of 1750 a week on that house and the the conversation I had with landlord. They're going to be moving up north and that's at Port Stephens. The conversation I had with that landlord was she was like how the hell do you afford to pay that? It's just such a lot of money.

Speaker 2: 5:38

It is. So I do think that a lot of young people in particular are gravitating towards having more of a shared household, where you do rent out each of the rooms and you have those common spaces that are shared between you to help save that money and to cover the cost of that rental property totally.

Speaker 1: 6:01

And also, I think, multi-generational houses. So I think now little Johnny and his girlfriend and mum and dad, and sometimes grandma or uncle, are converging now a little bit as well. So they're putting their homes together um to save a bit of money, and sometimes they're renting out the properties where they lived. If they own them, or if they're renting them, they're just cancelling and saving the money. So I think and you know there's the food bills you save on as well um, there's other associated costs. You know you can share internet connections, you could share, share TV subscriptions, so you know there's an efficiency there. Now Zant in the real estate world. How is it perceived? So what does a landlord, what does a real property manager say when they hear share house? How does that get handled from the real estate agent's perspective?

Speaker 2: 7:01

Well, I think from a real estate's perspective that effectively, if you're a property manager and you are overseeing someone's biggest asset, effectively you do want to have everybody on that lease and just make sure that everybody has been cross-checked, they've had that background checks done, they are on the lease and they are all contributing and able to afford that property in the event that something goes wrong. You do want to have that lease protection behind you in the way of everybody that is staying at that property to protect the landlord at the end of the day.

Speaker 1: 7:41

Interesting.

Speaker 2: 7:42

We've seen it before as well, in the way of a two-bedroom apartment in DY where there were two people on the lease, but upon inspection of the property it looks like seven people were living there and things like that. It doesn't bode well for a real estate agent or for the landlord as well, and that is a red flag and that is a you know strike, one kind of thing where you can be asked to leave that property and also there's a lot more wear and tear on the property.

Speaker 1: 8:13

So if you're a single and two-bedroom unit, compared to four people in a two-bedroom unit, there's going to be four times the wear and tear on that unit. But I do have to say, in terms of making sure you're going to get your money out of the tenant for rent payment, a nice thing there is you've got four times the chance of nothing going wrong because you've got four people on the lease. So where you benefit in one way, you will lose a little bit In another way. You benefit because you've got that security of four people paying the rent. You lose because you've got four times the warranty on the property.

Speaker 1: 8:46

I guess there's that practical side of things as well. I recommend that if you are going out on a limb renting your property as a share house, I do recommend landlord's insurance for the first couple of years um, where you could pay 400 on dollars um and you've got that insurance on uh, on you know, uh, terrible damage on the property or um renteries and things like that. Then I think when you get a bit of rhythm and a bit of trust with those tenants, then you can stop paying their insurance. So it's a really nice way to go around it, and I think there needs to be some sort of compassion around as well, because there are times that are tough, that are approaching and that people are in. So I think, as a landlord, it's pretty clever. You may have the chance to get a touch more rent than the average bear and put in sort of a lot more people into the property, which will increase the wear and tear, but maybe they'll do a great job looking after the place. But those regular routine inspections is what we'd recommend.

Speaker 2: 9:58

Absolutely, and I do think that we will continue to see more of an influx of the whole share house concept, whether it's a few couples living in the one property or that multi-generational living, as we touched on before, it is becoming more and more evident and more and more popular, as well as everyone kind of struggles just with their day to day life really.

Speaker 1: 10:23

And I think COVID, everyone did it to the opposite. Everyone went, got their own place, they also sort of not isolated, but you know, they went to homes rather than apartments and then went out on their own path a little bit more, whereas I think now people are converging due to that cost of living.

Speaker 2: 10:43

It's interesting, and how much longer will it stay like this? How long is the piece of string, kind of thing? It's interesting and how much longer will it stay like this? How long is the piece of string, kind of thing?

Speaker 1: 10:52

It's going to be interesting times, anthony, but sharing is caring, and thank you for the show today. Anything else you want to add?

Speaker 2: 11:01

Oh, I don't think so. I'm a big fan of share housing. I still have a housemate now. I love it it. I love having somebody else in my space and just someone to connect to, but still having my break-free zone. I do just think it's important to be very transparent and open, uh, when, as soon as you bring someone into your place in the way of whatever expenses will be, paid, roles, responsibilities and kind of covering that whole ethics of renting concept. That's what I would say to anybody thinking about it.

Speaker 1: 11:33

So we're giving sharing a big thumbs up for today, then, but be careful.

Speaker 2: 11:37

I think so.

Speaker 1: 11:38

Awesome. Thanks, Anne. Bye, have a great day everyone. See you Bye.