Hi!

I was looking at perhaps renting a room with a friend in the basement of a house where the owners live upstairs. I was just wondering if anyone had experience with this situation and whether or not they'd recommend it?

Thanks!

I did this... Sort of. I lived with a girl whose family owned the house, and who basically reported to her parents.

The difference here is that I was actually roommates with her, whereas you'd be living in a separate dwelling (I'm assuming you would have your own entrance, etc?)**. Would I recommend it? Depends... is there anything you wanna do that you wouldn't want the landlords hyper aware of? Do you plan to have parties? Do you smoke weed?

If you plan to be model tenants, you're probably fine. However, I was a pretty good tenant and I still didn't like feeling like I was being supervised... although I suppose this would depend on the landlord.

**This is important because if the dwelling is separate, ie separate entrance and lockable to the upstairs landlord, you have more rights as a tenant than you do if you are de facto sharing the same house and just renting out basement rooms.

My first landlord was pretty strict as she laid down the ground rules as soon as I moved in, she told me no girls are allowed in the house. If it was a female tenant, she would say no males allowed. We kept things strictly tenant-landlord relationship. I considered the basement as an apartment under close supervision.

The second landlord was freaking awesome, I have the whole basement to myself (900 square feet) and she doesn't care if I have a party downstairs, as long as the property is respected. She just wears ear plugs if it becomes noisy, however, I try to be modest and not make a habit out of it. She never seem to mind when I have company over here and there, especially when I have the TV blaring. Pretty much, I considered the basement as a second home.

I'd highly recommend it if the landlord respects your personal space and never intrude. If something happens, you can knock on their door and they will rectify any problems you have in the basement (e.g., broken lights, broken pipe, broken faucet and so on). The snow path will always be cleared for you and the garbage is always taken out as we share their garbage. So in a way, it feels like I am still living with my parents but there are absolutely no rules (not like I have any back at home ).

Hope this helps.

Basement rooms suck if you are a light sleeper. You'd be surprised how loud footsteps above your room are in the daed of night.

Buddy of mine used to live downstairs to a middle aged couple. Him has his roommates would hear the husband beating his wife.






I mean why would you beat your wife? It's like keying your own car.

I am currently in a house like this on Marion st. (wonder if its the one your looking at) and I would not advise it. My landlord's family is very loud and they are up early and go to bed very late, this may not be the norm but if your looking at this place I would avoid it.

I do not recommend this , I live in a house with landlords kid and even though being a good and clean tenant, I do feel supervised. If the landlords do live upstairs, they can be noisy and if you are a light sleeper and like your privacy then you should probably look for another accommodation.

Just be respectful and you should be okay

Originally Posted by kelsoss22

Just be respectful and you should be okay

Yes, but you have no idea whether or not the owner and/or their family will be "respectful".

Personally, I'd stay away from a living situation like that, especially due to the potential loss of some legal protections.

Also if you're interested, the middle-aged couple who was killed by their son a few days ago, they rented out their house to other tenants, and one of them went on the news saying how she had been trying to move out because she didn't feel comfortable and how the son was kind of "odd".
The chances of that happening to you are slim-to-none, but you can't automatically assume that the landlord will be an ideal person to live with.