Offering Your Duplex For Rent What You Should Know About Shared Resources And Rental Plans

With the ongoing economic recession firmly embedded within the housing market segment

, more and more people are opting for home rentals rather than owning their homes. As per recent market studies and housing market trends, in August 2005, an article titled Speculators Push Rents Down appeared in the Wall Street Journal, which stated that the demand of rental homes in Phoenix had doubled in comparison to their demand almost a year ago. Similar scenarios were also found in places as diverse as Kansas City, Fairfield County in Connecticut, Las Vegas, Florida, San Diego, and even in Palm Coast. In June 2008, an article posted by the Associated Press in the Los Angeles Times indicated that majority of the displaced homeowners preferred renting apartments in lieu of availing a mortgage to buy a home. Even more recently, the HUD VA foreclosure rates have been steadily rising in every state within the last six months, and the number of foreclosures has increased to more than 1.2 million compared to last year. To summarize the current market conditions, this would be the best time for investors and homeowners to invest in the housing market segment by buying various types of properties. In the near future, home rental prices are most likely to go up owing to an increased demand in home rentals, as well as increasing number of properties available for sale due to foreclosures.

Property investors have several options while choosing the type of property to buy apartments, condominiums, bungalows, duplexes, mobile or manufactured homes, studio apartments etc. They all offer excellent investment opportunities. However, as per current market trends duplexes are one of most preferred home rental types. Thats one of the main reasons why many homeowners advertise duplexes for rent, since their demand far exceeds other property types. A duplex is a multifamily dwelling, in which an indoor staircase usually connects the accommodation units on the same or different floors. Duplexes have independent entrances. If a duplex is constructed to house three or four independent units instead of two, they are termed as "triplexes" or "quadplexes". Duplexes are typically multifamily home types, and all occupiers share some of the common resources in a duplex accommodation. While buying duplexes for commercial investment purposes, therere certain aspects that duplex owners should know regarding what the tenants or occupiers are supposed to share. The following pointers can give a brief idea regarding what tenants have to share.

Yard sharing

The main idea of constructing a duplex is to save upon space and accommodate more families, so majority of the duplexes have very little yard space. A wall cant be build to divide the yard for individual use, so the occupiers have to commonly share the resource. Owners letting their duplex for rent should have a plan, or certain rules governing how, when, and in what manner the yard should be utilized by the tenants. The rental contract should include rules pertaining to sharing and maintaining the yard, using the yard for activities such as barbecues, hosting parties, keeping toys and playthings for kids, etc. Its important to familiarize the tenant about the rules before the tenant signs the rental contract. That way it becomes possible to avoid heated discussions and quarrels with the tenants during their stay.

Wall sharing

Duplexes share resources, including walls between successive homes. This can often create problems for the tenants since noise can easily penetrate the walls and disturb the neighbors. Sounds including barking of dogs, stereos, and crying children can be quite disturbing, especially at night. So its suggested to line the walls with soundproof material so the sound does not penetrate, or if thats not possible than let the tenants know beforehand what to expect regarding their privacy and disturbance. Even thought its not possible to prevent the kids from crying aloud, the owner can possibly define specific duplex rentals rules related to reducing other types of noises, and that the occupiers should stringently follow the rules.

Sharing of maintenance duties

Even though many duplex owners go in for maintenance contract as far as the maintenance and upkeep of the premises are concerned, majority of the owners dont, and in such cases, the duties have to be shared by the tenants. People tend to avoid activities such as cleaning clogged gutters, repairing the sidings, cleaning the shared resources, fixing the electrical connections, etc. Informing the tenants well in advance regarding these activities can help avoid quarrels and arguments in the future.

Driveway sharing

Parking of vehicles is always an issue with rented premises. Quite often, theres not enough parking space near residences, so the occupiers are forced to park their vehicles in nearby places. If your duplex does not have enough parking space to accommodate all the vehicles owned by the occupiers, its recommended you restrict the number of vehicles the tenants can park in the common parking lot. Families can own more than one vehicle, and it wouldnt be fair for a single tenant to occupy the majority of parking space for parking multiple vehicles. Mentioning this in the rental contract while offering duplex homes for rent can prevent parking related problems for the owner.

The main advantage of providing a duplex for rent is that the owner can earn a good profit margin by collecting rent from multiple units, and reduce the overheads while maintaining the shared resources. Duplexes are great investment options, and the most sought after commercial type of property preferred by investors and promoters. However, the downside is that the tenants need to share certain duties and may have issues regarding their privacy, so its very important for the duplex owner to lay down and thoroughly explain the duplex tenancy rules to avoid unpleasant situations from occurring in the future.

by: Sharon Lee

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