Sharing a House or Apartment

• 1). Divide the amount of the monthly rent by the number of people who will be living there. If three people are renting an apartment for $900 a month, each person would pay $300.
  
  
• 2). Make adjustments in what each person pays to take different situations into account. If one person has a beautiful bedroom with windows and the other is living in a closet, it's only fair that the first person pay a higher percentage of the rent.
  
  
• 3). Divide the utilities and other costs associated with the house or apartment equally among the tenants.
  
  

Taking in a Lodger

• 1). Determine what you think is a fair rent for the room that you are offering. Get an idea of this by looking at advertisements for rented rooms in your area that are similar to what you have available. Talk to others who have boarders and to the boarders themselves.
  
  
• 2). Advertise that you have a room for rent, including a photograph of the room and the amount that you are asking. When people come to look at the room, confirm with them what the monthly rent is and be sure they are able and willing to pay it.
  
  
• 3). Decide if you will charge a set rent that includes utilities or if you will charge your tenant for utilities separately. The latter plan gives the tenant more of an incentive to be frugal with heat and electricity, but it will make calculating costs more complicated.