How much rent should we charge?

My brother is moving in with us at the end of the month from Cincinnati. We get along really well, and he and my husband are friends, too. So hopefully all will go well in that regard.

He will be looking for a job after he moves in, and of course I don't expect him to help with rent when he's not working. He's planning on eventually getting his own place- so I don't want things to get too comfortable for him at our house, since I would really prefer that he eventually find his own apartment. :p

So, after he gets a job and before he gets his own place- what percentage of the rent should we ask him to pay?

He will have his own bedroom, but it is the small one...but then again utilities will be higher with him living here. I want to be fair, but I don't want to be taken advantage of (unintentionally of course).

None. He will be a short term guest in your home. Plus, he is family. I am sure like all normal people, he will offer to help out, buy groceries, etc., but, I couldn't really imagine having a family member or close friend pay rent to temporarily stay in my home.

Sorry, I am sure this wasn't what you were expecting, but, you asked for opinions! :o

I wouldn't ask for rent unless you absolutely needed help for utilities or if he lives there for a year or longer.

I WOULD ask him to help out around the house, be sure he cleans up after himself, etc.

My BIL stayed with us for a couple months a earlier this year when he was kicked out of his place. We actually did not charge rent, but he did have to help pay for gas (we were driving him back and forth to work and anywhere else he needed to go since he lost his license). He also bought some of his own groceries, although he still ate ours also (then again, when he got himself something good I helped myself here and there teehee ;) ). I think as long as it's on a short term basis there's no need to charge rent. However, I do understand your point, if you charge him nothing then he may have no incentive to leave. My BIL's incentive to leave was his pet snake that he was not allowed to keep at our house. The snake had to stay with a friend, and he missed his snake, so he did work at finding his own place.

AWW!! He moved out for the love of his snake. Now, isn't that sweet? :p

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Originally Posted by Cataholic

AWW!! He moved out for the love of his snake. Now, isn't that sweet? :p

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Sweet for me - there was NO WAY that snake was staying in our house (no offense to you snake lovers out there ;) )

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Originally Posted by Pembroke_Corgi

My brother is moving in with us at the end of the month from Cincinnati. We get along really well, and he and my husband are friends, too. So hopefully all will go well in that regard.

He will be looking for a job after he moves in, and of course I don't expect him to help with rent when he's not working. He's planning on eventually getting his own place- so I don't want things to get too comfortable for him at our house, since I would really prefer that he eventually find his own apartment. :p

So, after he gets a job and before he gets his own place- what percentage of the rent should we ask him to pay?

He will have his own bedroom, but it is the small one...but then again utilities will be higher with him living here. I want to be fair, but I don't want to be taken advantage of (unintentionally of course).

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One Third !!!!
Wom

I agree with most, at first i would not charge him, it all depends really on how generous he is, and how long he ends up staying, but if he buys some groceries and offers to help, take it,and if he ends up staying longer than you intended him too, then i would broach the subject, my son had a friend move in for about a month, temporarily, and never charged him, he ended up becoming a room-mate in the end,so it all worked out just fine. :)

none. he is family and should be able to live with you until he gets his own place.

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Originally Posted by Reggie

none. he is family and should be able to live with you until he gets his own place.

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Nope....sorry folks...I disagree.
People have to pay their own way for a number of reasons.
Firstly it's because people cost ????? They cost you money and effort, and you shouldn't have to spring that free of charge.
Secondly, if you make it too easy on him, then he isn't going to look around seriously for his own accommodation.
Too many times I've heard of situations such as these, when homeowners find they have a freeloader who won't leave because of the owners hospitality.
I know it's nice to do stuff for relo's and the like, but the situation can easily get out of hand, and you will be left with the big phone bills and electricity bills etc etc, after they move on.
Work out in your head how much it costs for you and hubby to live for a month....divide that by three, and that is what your brother should pay, because that is what you will spend.
Wom

Thanks for all of your replies. I appreciate the responses, even if they were not quite what I expected!! :D ;)

Perhaps I should be more clear: After 2 months, assuming he has a job, we are going to ask him to kick in for rent. My brother, as much as I like him, is extremely cheap. I'm quite certain that if we never asked him to pay a dime, he wouldn't...he'd probably think he'd died and gone to heaven and would live with us forever. :D

If he wants to find a place right away, then it's understandable that he would want to save, and I wouldn't begrudge him not paying for anything, but I'm pretty sure he will just hang out at our house for a while and I have neither the means nor the inclination to support another adult for longer than necessary.

We've actually lived with him before- right after college we all three rented a house together- and he ended up moving out and leaving Eric and I to pay for everything, which we didn't plan on. :/ So, I've already decided that's not happening again, and I want to be clear right from the start what our expectations are.

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Originally Posted by wombat2u2004

Nope....sorry folks...I disagree.
People have to pay their own way for a number of reasons.
Firstly it's because people cost ????? They cost you money and effort, and you shouldn't have to spring that free of charge.
Secondly, if you make it too easy on him, then he isn't going to look around seriously for his own accommodation.
Too many times I've heard of situations such as these, when homeowners find they have a freeloader who won't leave because of the owners hospitality.
I know it's nice to do stuff for relo's and the like, but the situation can easily get out of hand, and you will be left with the big phone bills and electricity bills etc etc, after they move on.
Work out in your head how much it costs for you and hubby to live for a month....divide that by three, and that is what your brother should pay, because that is what you will spend.
Wom

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My husband thinks that he should have to pay a third after he gets a job, too. I don't feel quite right charging that much, but I do agree that he should kick in some money. It would be nice if some kind of barter worked out, but I'm pretty sure that won't be the case due to what happen the last time we lived with him.

I really don't want life at our house to get too cozy for him or he will never leave. ;)

Only you and you alone know your brother, it sounds like he would take to free-loading ,so perhaps you should implement a system from day one,so you don't end up in a sticky situation, if you think thirds is the way to go ,then i say go for it, now that you have explained things further i am more in agreement to ask him to share expenses as soon as he gets work.

I say first month free, after that 1/3 rent. (That was my opinion even before reading all the other replies.)

The house/apt is already where you live, you're not moving to a new place to accomodate your brother... right?

I don't know what your rent is, but that seems like you would be taking advantage of someone who is down on their luck. I don't see how 1/3 is fair, but that's just me. I've had family stay with me, and never charged anything except their long distance charges. I stayed with my brother after my divorce and thankfully he never charged me 1/2 of his rent, I couldn't have paid it.

Maybe $200 and have him help with groceries?

Crystal

First thing I would consider is what would be fair to what he can afford to pay you guys. If hes completly down on his luck right now, then helping him along for free is the nice thing to do, until he gets a job.

If hes able to afford to chip in, what I would consider would be the costs above what you're paying now. So, figure out what you guys have to spend on things like water and hydro, food, etc. -- and then anything that goes above that, he could cover.

So, for example, if you spend $100 on hydro in a month, and he moves in and suddenly hydro goes up $50, then having him cover the $50 might be fair. Same with food, gas if you have to drive him around, other expenses in running the household, etc.

I think setting out the ground rules now is important though, before he moves in. Like "We understand that you're not working right now, you're my bro and I want to help you out. Heres what you can do around here to help out with the household while your looking for work (chores, housework, yardwork, etc.)Once you get a job, we expect $_____ to cover the costs of ______, ______, etc."

Yes I do agree with you Wombat, but I would let him stay free for the first month to get on his feet, after that a set amount with a signed contract is good. This way he never loses his self worth and or pride which is a basic human need for any success.

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Originally Posted by wombat2u2004

Nope....sorry folks...I disagree.
People have to pay their own way for a number of reasons.
Firstly it's because people cost ????? They cost you money and effort, and you shouldn't have to spring that free of charge.
Secondly, if you make it too easy on him, then he isn't going to look around seriously for his own accommodation.
Too many times I've heard of situations such as these, when homeowners find they have a freeloader who won't leave because of the owners hospitality.
I know it's nice to do stuff for relo's and the like, but the situation can easily get out of hand, and you will be left with the big phone bills and electricity bills etc etc, after they move on.
Work out in your head how much it costs for you and hubby to live for a month....divide that by three, and that is what your brother should pay, because that is what you will spend.
Wom

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Originally Posted by Scooter's Mom

The house/apt is already where you live, you're not moving to a new place to accomodate your brother... right?

I don't know what your rent is, but that seems like you would be taking advantage of someone who is down on their luck. I don't see how 1/3 is fair, but that's just me. I've had family stay with me, and never charged anything except their long distance charges. I stayed with my brother after my divorce and thankfully he never charged me 1/2 of his rent, I couldn't have paid it.

Maybe $200 and have him help with groceries?

Crystal

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Just to get one thing clear, my brother is not "down on his luck." Right now he has a full time job whre he lives, and he simply wants to move to Denver, so we are going to let him live with us to make it easier. I don't think 1/3 of everything is quite right, but I think he needs to help with utilities (the ones that will rise, like water and electric) and rent when he gets a job.

LOL. If he is moving from Cincinnati to Denver, I would say his luck is on the upswing!

I think once he gets a job you guys need to figure out how much of his paycheck he needs to save to get a new place (its often expensive since many places want a huge deposit or first and last months rent, plus often utility companies want a deposit for new customers). Then figure out how much you need from him to help you out, if you charge too much it might be harder for him to save up so he can move out. But at the same time he does need to help you out financially since I'm assuming you aren't rich and the extra cost of a third person living there might hurt you a little.

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Originally Posted by Pembroke_Corgi

Just to get one thing clear, my brother is not "down on his luck." Right now he has a full time job whre he lives, and he simply wants to move to Denver, so we are going to let him live with us to make it easier. I don't think 1/3 of everything is quite right, but I think he needs to help with utilities (the ones that will rise, like water and electric) and rent when he gets a job.

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Fair enough PC. But just make his share an amount that you are quite happy with, and not feeling as tho you are being ripped off.
Good luck with that.
Wom