If you own a home with an extra room, you could be sitting on a potential easy income stream. The proposition of taking in a boarder could be especially attractive to those who have basements, since the relative privacy of the bottom floor makes renting the room out less intrusive.

In a two part series, Young And Thrifty suggests things to consider when putting your basement up for rent.

Before you get going, you need to step back and evaluate your financial situation and household dynamics, as well as goals that renting your basement could help you reach. If you decide to proceed, the first step is to make your basement an attractive rental by decking it out with all the accouterments that someone living there would want.

Next you’ll have to decide whether or not to include utilities in the rent. When posting ads for your rental, the post recommends putting up a lot of pictures to give prospective renters an idea of how your place looks. Be prepared to host plenty of tours and in-depth interviews with potential boarders in order to make sure you’re a proper match.

Check out the posts for in-depth advice.

How to Rent our Your Basement Suite: Part I [Young And Thrifty]

How to Rent our Your Basement Suite: Part II [Young And Thrifty]

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