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I am thinking about renting out a room to a friend in my home. The room measures 10x11. This individual will be working from home 5 days per week and therefore will need to have a desk setup somewhere with 2-3 monitors. He told me that the bedroom would not be big enough to accommodate his desk and everything else and is asking to have his desk setup in one of the common areas of the home if he were to rent from me.
While 10x11 isn't exactly a large bedroom, I seem to recall college-days where I made things work in a much smaller space than that (but I didn't have dual monitors back then). Is this a reasonable request? I want to be accommodating to this person because they are my friend but I also don't want an eyesore in the dining/living space.
You're renting out a 10 X 11 room in a residential setting. How that person utilizes their room's space is up to them. Unless your renting and getting paid for use of additional space as an exclusive office (I assume the computer setup is for their use only), friend or not, you need to act as a landlord. More space means more rent.
Well, for starters…what size of bed are we talking about? I bet it’s bigger than that XL Twin in the dorm.
I have a guest room 11’x10’8”. It has a queen bed, two nightstands and a dining room chair my cats sit on to look out the window. I could probably get a small chest of drawers in there, but anything more than that would be getting pretty crowded. I can’t imagine adding a desk and as well. And I sure couldn’t imagine spending all my time in there, working and sleeping.
Is there a place in the dining/living area that you would be okay under any circumstances with there being a desk setup? If so, simply tell him that if he wants to have a desk out there it will be X more per month in rent and write it into the lease. Otherwise he can keep his desk in his room, or look for a different room to rent.
If you're not okay with him having a desk in the common living areas, or the apartment is simply too small, just tell him that. He can either decide to put the desk in his room, or look for a different place to rent a room.
I am thinking about renting out a room to a friend in my home. The room measures 10x11. This individual will be working from home 5 days per week and therefore will need to have a desk setup somewhere with 2-3 monitors. He told me that the bedroom would not be big enough to accommodate his desk and everything else and is asking to have his desk setup in one of the common areas of the home if he were to rent from me.
While 10x11 isn't exactly a large bedroom, I seem to recall college-days where I made things work in a much smaller space than that (but I didn't have dual monitors back then). Is this a reasonable request? I want to be accommodating to this person because they are my friend but I also don't want an eyesore in the dining/living space.
Here's my take: if you let him take over one of the common spaces, is that going to limit how you utilize the space? (If future roommate has a job that requires that he beconstantly on calls where he's going to need relative peace and quiet, etc.) In my opinion, it's up to him about how to make the space that you're renting out to him work for his situation. If that means buying a twin or double bed to make it work, that might be the way that it will have to be. At the end of the day, you're the landlord and he's the paying houseguest which means that you set the terms of his rental agreement.
Also, how is this new roommate intending to stay with you? (Always have an end date from the get-go even if you end up not holding him to it in the long run. It makes it far easier to get them to move on if things aren't working out.) If it's an open-ended stay, I'd keep him to his room if for not other reason than you don't want him to get too comfortable to the point that he never moves out on his own again.
Here's my take: if you let him take over one of the common spaces, is that going to limit how you utilize the space? (If future roommate has a job that requires that he beconstantly on calls where he's going to need relative peace and quiet, etc.)
This is a really good point. Most jobs require you to call in for meetings or take calls. If the desk is in his bedroom, he can shut his door and do what he needs to do in quiet and privacy. If the desk is out in the common area, is his expectation going to be that you tiptoe around your house or refrain from watching a basketball game or having people over while he's having a meeting? Just seems like having your workspace out in the common areas would lend itself to multiple issues.
My home office is in one of the BR in our house and it's 10x11. I have two monitors as well. I use a stand up desk so I don't have a big office chair, that takes up a lot of room. It also has a huge closet, and if it were my BR as well that's where all my clothes would go.
Could I also fit a bed in here? Yes, a twin. The way this particular room is configured an XL twin would not fit. That's probably it. IDK what else your friend has but unless you've agreed to let him use some of the common areas - freely - this is a recipe for a person to lose their mind. Dorm rooms are a lot bigger than 10x11 and you are not in there working 8 hours a day. What kind of job is it? I don't have a laptop so I am bound to my office, but I'm never on the phone. When I get my laptop (hopefully soon) I intend to get out of my office and work different places in my house and even outside.
One of our smaller bedrooms has a full size bed against the wall and a desk with two monitors that my husband uses when he works from home. He also has shelves with a TV.
If you allow your friend to set up his work space in your common areas of the house, you're really turning this into a roommate situation with all those headaches vs renting one room. You've lost control of your home before you even start.
I would say no, that won't work for us. I just wouldn't want someone sitting in one of our main rooms all day and being bound by their work hours.
Yes, his stuff will fit. He will have to give up the king size bed.
You offered him a room and he hasn't even moved in yet and he is trying to stake his claim to more territory and expand into the rest of the house, carving out more territory in the common areas that no one else can use. I suggest that you tell him you have decided it won't work out and that he needs to find someplace else to live.
If you decide you still want him, make it very clear that the offer was for the bedroom only and that's all he gets. Then expect to spend your next year or so trying to fend off his border raids as he tries to take over more of the house for himself.
I can't imagine working, living and sleeping all in the same 10x11 space.
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