Sharing a home through a homeshare program
Many of the people who look into homesharing are in one of two situations. Some own a home and are having a hard time keeping up with the mortgage, the property taxes, or the upkeep, or they no longer want to live alone. Others need a place to live and cannot afford an apartment on their own.
This page explains how these programs work, how the organizations that run them screen people, what goes into the written agreement, and what to check before you agree to share a home with anyone. A homeshare program brings those two people together. The homeowner offers a private bedroom and shared use of the rest of the home. In return, the person moving in pays rent, helps out around the house, or does some of both.
What homesharing is
Homesharing is an arrangement between two people who are usually not related. One has space in their home. The other needs housing they can afford.
The home can be a house, an apartment, a condo, or a mobile home. If the person offering the space is a renter, the lease has to allow it, so renters should check with their landlord before offering a room to anyone.
What the person moving in gives back varies from one match to the next. In some matches it is a monthly rent payment. In others it is an agreed amount of help, such as cooking, cleaning, yard work, or driving the homeowner to appointments and the grocery store. Many matches involve a lower rent payment combined with some help around the house.
Why people use a program instead of finding a roommate on their own
You do not need a program to share a home. People find housemates through friends, family, and listing websites every day. The reason homeshare programs exist is safety and structure.
A homeshare program is run by an organization, and staff members handle the matching. In many communities the organization is a nonprofit or a charity. In some places it is a housing agency, a senior services agency, or a state or county office on aging.
The staff take applications from both the homeowner and the person looking for housing. Programs usually interview each person and contact references, and many also visit the home and run criminal background checks on everyone involved.
That screening is the main difference between a homeshare program and answering an ad on your own. When you find a housemate through a listing, checking the other person out is entirely up to you. When you go through a program, trained staff have usually done some of that work already.
The depth of the screening is not the same everywhere, though. Before you count on it, ask the program directly what checks they run on applicants and what they verify. If a service does not screen people at all, treat any match from it the way you would treat a stranger from a classified ad.
Many of these programs are free to use. Some charge a small fee for the service. It is fair to ask about the cost up front, and a legitimate program will tell you plainly.
The written agreement
Good programs put every homeshare arrangement in writing before anyone moves in. The staff usually provide the agreement and help both people fill it out.
The agreement should spell out the rent amount, if there is one, and when it is due. If the person moving in will be helping around the house instead of paying full rent, it should describe the tasks and about how many hours per week they will take.
It should also cover the house rules both people care about. That can include guests, smoking, pets, use of the kitchen and other shared rooms, and quiet hours.
Finally, it should say how either person can end the arrangement and how much notice they need to give. Some programs stay involved after move-in and can help work things out if a disagreement comes up that the two of you cannot settle on your own.
Who homesharing tends to work for
The most common match is an older homeowner and a younger person who needs affordable housing. Some programs require that at least one person in the match be over a certain age, so ask about age rules when you apply.
For an older homeowner, the arrangement can bring in some money, provide help with chores that have gotten harder, and put another person in the house at night. Many seniors use it as a way to stay in their own home and community rather than moving.
There is one honest limit to know about. A housemate is not a caregiver, and most programs do not set up arrangements that involve bathing, dressing, medication, or other personal care. If someone in your family needs that level of help, a homeshare is usually not the right answer, and the NHPB guide to assistance programs offered to senior citizens covers services that may fit better.
The people looking for rooms tend to be workers with lower wages, students, people living on disability income, and single parents. Some mothers raising children alone look for another mother to share a home and the work of parenting with, and the NHPB guide to shared housing for single mothers covers how those arrangements work.
Match-up programs and shared living residences
Most homeshare programs run what is often called a match-up service. That is the one-to-one arrangement described above, set in one person's private home.
Some agencies also operate shared living residences. A shared living residence is a house or building the agency itself manages, where several unrelated people each rent a private bedroom and share the kitchen and common rooms.
The screening and the written agreement work in a similar way in both models. If an agency in your area offers both, staff can talk through which one fits your situation.
What to check before you agree to anything
Work through an organization when one operates where you live. The screening, the home visit, and the written agreement are protections you give up when you arrange everything on your own.
Ask what the program checked before you meet a potential match. Ask whether there was a background check, whether references were called, and whether staff visited the home. Do not assume any of it happened.
Get every promise into the written agreement. If the homeowner said the rent would stay lower in exchange for help with the yard, that belongs on paper, along with what happens if either person wants to end the arrangement.
Be careful with listings and offers that skip all of this. A stranger who pushes you to move in quickly, asks for money before you have seen the home, or avoids meeting in person is showing you warning signs, and the guide to be on the lookout for scams explains what those schemes tend to look like.
Homeowners who receive government benefits should check one more thing. The money a housemate pays you may count as income for some assistance programs, so ask the office that handles your benefits how a homesharing arrangement would affect you before you sign anything.
Finding a homeshare program
These programs do not operate in every community, and they go by different names from one place to another. Some areas have several. Others have none, and the closest option may be an agency that serves a wider region.
A national network called the National Shared Housing Resource Center keeps a directory of nonprofit homesharing programs around the country, and their website at https://www.nationalsharedhousing.org/ is a reasonable place to start. Local senior services agencies and housing agencies may also know what operates in your area.
The NHPB guide to finding shared housing programs covers each of these options in more detail, including the questions to ask when you call.
Programs, screening practices, and availability vary by organization and location, and details change over time. Contact any program directly to confirm how their process works before making a housing decision.
Related Content From Needhelppayingbills.com
|
Need help navigating programs?