renting a MIL apartment in WS

[PDieter]

I’m curious how other home owners go about renting out their mother-in-law apartments (ADU) in West Seattle. When we remodeled our home we included a permitted ADU in the walkout basement. We’ve had one renter so far but she was a friend of a friend and snapped it up before we really even tried. Now her lease is coming to an end and she bought a house so we are wondering what the best way to find a suitable tenant might be.

Of course there’s Craig’s list but since we share the home we’re liable to be pretty picky as to who rents; and the gal we just had spoiled us. We’re very close to Holy Rosary and the other private schools N. of the Junction and we would love to have one of the teachers but I don’t know if the schools have bulletin boards or such for advertising.

We’ve got a good set of photos on the web ready to go and have already been through the lease process so we have that paperwork down, but still wondering what the best ways to find a tenant might be.

So I thought I’d ask to see if there are other home owners with more experience renting out their ADU, what they do and if they have any other tips they would like to pass on.

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[Zenguy]

I did rent my ‘almost’ ADU basement to a guy I met on Craig’s list and am pretty darn happy with him. He pays his rent on time and is very considerate when sharing the common areas too. I got my first phone call less than ten minutes from posting…amazing!

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[vincent]

I cant find this still posted but this is hilarious:

http://homepage.mac.com/alqahtani/.Public/web/landlord-from-hell.pdf

I am a born again Christian. Why is this a problem for people????! I have a

house that’s MINE and I PAID FOR IT. I also have a basement apartment for

rent. It’s a great space for I’m charing very little for it, $480 monthly,

for the right tenant. I know it’s ILLEGAL to require a Christian in the

apartment, against the human rights. That’s why I NEVER put this in my ad.

Why then does it keep getting taken down?

HERE IS THE AD I POSTED, AND THE AD THAT KEEPS GETTING REMOVED:

Available Immediately – Broadway and Commercial – Showing Saturday and

Sunday – Email for directions and additional information.

What kind of apartment is it?

• One bedroom basement apartment with separate entrance

• Tastefully decorated with modern décor

• Approximately 650 square feet

• There is even a window! Security bars installed for your safety and to

prevent unauthorized activity

• Closed circuit camera installed for security and safety. One in your

suite, one at the entrance, and one in the exercise yard

Rent:

• $480.00 per month

• First month’s rent + ½ month security deposit due at move in

• Small pet allowed with approval and payment of additional ½ month pet

damage deposit

• One year lease permitted, option to renew lease at end of the term with no

increase in rent

• LANDLORD’S SPECIAL! Move in before January 1st and don’t pay for the

remainder of December! That’s significant savings.

Included in the rent:

• Electricity

• Heat – Maintained at 21 degrees with lock box to prevent unauthorized

tampering. Additional heating available for $20.00 per extra degree of

heating per month. You may not use your oven to heat the apartment. If you

do, you will be fined $50.00 per occurrence.

• Air conditioning – Maintained at 25 degrees during the summer with lock

box to prevent extra cooling from being dispensed. Additional cooling for

sale for $20.00 per degree of cooling requested per month.

• 25″ Zenith color television set with basic cable service – INCLUDED IN

RENT!

• Wireless internet (with content filter applied to block forbidden/immoral

websites) – INCLUDED IN RENT!

• Provision of coin laundry services – You will have your own personal coin

laundry washer and dryer machines. Washers and dryers are paid using a token

system. Tokens can be purchased through the landlord. Washer tokens cost

$4.15 each and dryer tokens cost $3.60 each. You are not allowed to use

foreign

currency or slugs in the washer and dryer. Violators will be fined $100.00

per infraction.

About us: (Landlords)

We are conservative, bible believing, God-fearing, born again, evangelical

Christians. We interpret the bible literally in every way possible. We live

a strict moral code and observe God’s laws in our everyday life. My wife

stays at home and teaches our home-schooled children. I work as a pastor at

a local congregation and am active in the faith community.

About you: (Tenant)

• You are employed

• You do not participate in lascivious deviant sexual behavior

• You do not choose alternative lifestyles as your lifestyle

• You do not have any criminal history

• You must have excellent character references

• You do not smoke, drink or take drugs. Mandatory drug screening required.

Additional Rules/Conditions:

CLEANLINESS: You are responsible for the cleanliness and orderliness of

your apartment. Beds are to be made before leaving your suite,

countertops must be wiped down, and you must remove all trash. Upon

inspection, if the tenant’s basement suite is not clean, the cost of

cleaning services plus a fine of $100.00 will be levied.

LIGHTS: The lights in your basement suite and in the day room are not to

be tampered with. If a light needs repair, report the condition to the

Landlord.

WAKE-UP: Wake up will be at 5:30am each morning. All ceiling lights in

the suite will be turned on automatically.

LIGHTS OUT: Ceiling lights in the suite will be turned off at 11:30pm.

CONTRABAND: The following items are considered contraband – alcohol, illegal

drugs, tobacco, weapons, lock picking equipment. If any contraband is

discovered to be in your possession, you will be subject to a minimum

$1,000.00 fine. In addition, your items will be confiscated permanently.

Second offense – you will be evicted without notice. A bailiff will escort

you and your belongings off the premises. Your security deposit will not be

returned.

SMOKING: The basement suite is non-smoking. Anyone in possession of

tobacco products of any kind or any lighter or matches, will have their

contraband items confiscated and will be fined $100.00.

INSPECTIONS: The Landlord will conduct unannounced inspections to ensure

that these rules and regulations are being followed.

VISITATION: Visitation periods will be on Saturdays and Sundays from

1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. All visitors and their vehicles are subject

to search while on landlord property. Refusal to allow a search can

result in their being barred from all future visitation privileges. All

visitors must sign the Visitor’s Log. Unauthorized visitors will be

escorted from the property, and the tenant will be fined $250.00.

I.D. BRACELETS: Each tenant will be issued an I.D. bracelet with his/her

photograph. It must be worn at all times. If you lose your I.D.

bracelet or it is broken, you will be required to purchase a new one at

the nominal cost of $5.00.

EXERCISE YARD: The tenant will have access to the exercise yard in the

area to the back of the property for 2 hours per day from 4:00 pm to

6:00 pm. The tenant is not allowed to bring any personal property to

the exercise yard. Once the tenant leaves the exercise yard on a

particular day, he or she may not return. No boisterous behavior is

allowed in the exercise yard. There is no smoking allowed in the

exercise yard. Minimum fine for exercise yard infractions is $50.00.

– Location: Broadway and Commercial

– it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial

interests

PostingID: 964514051

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[Diane]

from the excellent tenant, lifelong renter perspective, I found my past 2 apts on CL; I live north of the junction, so sounds like same neighborhood, Belvidere, and I am a teacher, of babies/prek; though pretty content in my current apt

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[mellaw6565]

Vincent – your ad violates the law in King County when you state a preference for the type of tenant that you want. Stating that the tenant cannot engage in an “alternative lifestyle” violates the law against discrimination against gays & lesbians and you could be seriously fined. I would flag it on CL too if I saw it.

PDieter – I have an MIL and we advertised on CL and got 45 calls in the first hour. Screen carefully and you won’t have an issue. Most prospective renters are on that site in this area.

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[Diane]

mellaw6565; vincent posted a cl spoof ad that was a joke, violating every law; it wasn’t vincent’s ad; and it was funny

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[vincent]

its reposted from CL Vancouver BC, it should have been flagged, it should have gone to best of, its hilarious.

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[Traci]

Oh my heart breaks for those doomed, doomed children! Locked in a prison-home and never get out!

Aside from that… Hilarious!!!

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[alki_2008]

Good one Vincent.

Would be interesting if people actually replied to that ad…thinking that it was legit. Who would actually live under those circumstances?

Ha!

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[Jiggers]

I fell out my chair laughing so hard reading this..They treat you better in jail until its time for you to pick the soap up.

• You are employed

• You do not participate in lascivious deviant sexual behavior

• You do not choose alternative lifestyles as your lifestyle

• You do not have any criminal history

• You must have excellent character references

• You do not smoke, drink or take drugs. Mandatory drug screening required.

Additional Rules/Conditions:

CLEANLINESS: You are responsible for the cleanliness and orderliness of

your apartment. Beds are to be made before leaving your suite,

countertops must be wiped down, and you must remove all trash. Upon

inspection, if the tenant’s basement suite is not clean, the cost of

cleaning services plus a fine of $100.00 will be levied.

LIGHTS: The lights in your basement suite and in the day room are not to

be tampered with. If a light needs repair, report the condition to the

Landlord.

WAKE-UP: Wake up will be at 5:30am each morning. All ceiling lights in

the suite will be turned on automatically.

LIGHTS OUT: Ceiling lights in the suite will be turned off at 11:30pm.

CONTRABAND: The following items are considered contraband – alcohol, illegal

drugs, tobacco, weapons, lock picking equipment. If any contraband is

discovered to be in your possession, you will be subject to a minimum

$1,000.00 fine. In addition, your items will be confiscated permanently.

Second offense – you will be evicted without notice. A bailiff will escort

you and your belongings off the premises. Your security deposit will not be

returned.

SMOKING: The basement suite is non-smoking. Anyone in possession of

tobacco products of any kind or any lighter or matches, will have their

contraband items confiscated and will be fined $100.00.

INSPECTIONS: The Landlord will conduct unannounced inspections to ensure

that these rules and regulations are being followed.

VISITATION: Visitation periods will be on Saturdays and Sundays from

1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. All visitors and their vehicles are subject

to search while on landlord property. Refusal to allow a search can

result in their being barred from all future visitation privileges. All

visitors must sign the Visitor’s Log. Unauthorized visitors will be

escorted from the property, and the tenant will be fined $250.00.

I.D. BRACELETS: Each tenant will be issued an I.D. bracelet with his/her

photograph. It must be worn at all times. If you lose your I.D.

bracelet or it is broken, you will be required to purchase a new one at

the nominal cost of $5.00.

EXERCISE YARD: The tenant will have access to the exercise yard in the

area to the back of the property for 2 hours per day from 4:00 pm to

6:00 pm. The tenant is not allowed to bring any personal property to

the exercise yard. Once the tenant leaves the exercise yard on a

particular day, he or she may not return. No boisterous behavior is

allowed in the exercise yard. There is no smoking allowed in the

exercise yard. Minimum fine for exercise yard infractions is $50.00.

– Location: Broadway and Commercial

– it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial

interests

PostingID: 964514051

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[sohonyusa]

That is one of the funniest CL posts I’ve ever read. Could you imagine needing ID bracelets for visitors and unannounced inspections…Yikes

PDieter,

My brother has rented his MIL unit using CL and has had great tenants. Good luck to you.

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[mellaw6565]

Unfortunately Diane it’s not funny – too many ads like that are posted that discriminate against gays, lesbians, and people of other religions. Get out of the bubble that is Seattle you will see it frequently. Humor suggesting discrimination of any kind is in poor taste.

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[Diane]

I’m very aware of discrimination; I’m also gay, and have experienced myself; I’ve also experienced ageism and other forms of bias

~

I think humor is healthy, and still think the ad is funny

~

I think the spoof ad was intended to make fun of bigots

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[andrea]

that was hilarious vincent! thanks for sharing

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[Diane]

oh andrea, that’s the first avatar I’ve seen that I’d actually like to get for myself; excellent!!!

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[andrea]

:) thank you so much Diane!

(i got the pic off of photobucket if you want to look for something similar for yourself!)

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[GenHillOne]

PDieter – it’s definitely a positive that it’s a permitted unit, I’d be sure to include that!

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[BG39]

those ads were very funny

andrea, I also have to send kudos for your avatar, that is perhaps my fave picture of her.

mellaw, settle down, we can think it’s funny, we also know if it’s a true ad then it is wrong and discriminatory. Although as blatant as it is no one would respond to it.

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[JoB]

that ad would frighten away a lot more than gays and lesbians…

anyone who wanted to live unsupervised would feel discriminated against:)

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[GenHillOne]

The curiosity was killing me…I was sure there was a jail at the corner of Broadway & Commercial, but all I can find is a McDonald’s! I feel like there’s a local joke there, but maybe someone who knows Vacouver better than I can fill me in.

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[JanS]

and ask TR if it’s OK to advertise the apt. on here. I would have a screening form – is that permissable? One that just asks the basics, like are you employed? Where? phone #’s? etc., etc…..and then check them out., if you ask for references. If a lot of people apply, it’s a lot of work, but you’d want to be absolutely sure…right?

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[Sue]

A friend of mine rents out a permitted ADU. She lives near UW and had them advertise on bulletin boards there about it – she hasn’t had long-term renters, but gets visiting people who are there for less than a year and need a place.

I rent a house that I found on Craigslist. I’ll admit I was wary since I’d heard about a lot of scams. But it worked out well for me (and I’d venture to say it worked well for my landlord too, since we pay the rent :). My landlord did a credit and background check on us – I’d definitely recommend that, especially if you’ve got someone living under your roof.

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[mom2soren]

Vincent, that ad is frighteningly hilarious! I’m sure it was a joke by the poster, to make fun of uptight people. LOVE it. Seattle could use a little more humor.

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[lg]

PDeiter (or others), I have 71 year old parents who are considering renting a place near Genessee Hill so they can come visit their 6 month old grandchild more often. Our house is very small, so staying with us for more than a week is impractical, but they are hoping to come for longer periods of time. They’d be ideal tenants, and paying rent for something they’d only stay in a portion of the year (so less wear and tear on your carpets, etc). A mother-in-law would be great for them. If any of you have a MIL that might be suitable I’d love to hear about it.

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[PDieter]

interesting prospect email me @

riverwader@mac.com

here are photos

http://gallery.me.com/riverwader#100118

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