Additional Rent When Girlfriend Moves in?

LNeatoboy on 16/07/2017 - 20:36

I have been sharing a rental property with a 50 year old mother and her 18 year old daughter for the past 10 months. Rent for the property is $425 per week for a 4 bedroom house on the southside of Brisbane. I pay $230 a week to the mother which includes electricity and internet. I have the main bedroom which includes an ensuite and a second bedroom where my kids stay 2 nights a week. The house is fully furnished and all owned by the mother except my kid's beds. The only rooms we share is the kitchen and the double garage. Although the garage is used primarily for her business/personal storage and I only have a small corner of the garage to store my personal things (about 10% of the total space). We both park our cars outside.

I have my own dining area and entertainment area although this is smaller than theirs (I'm not complaining). I use her fridge, plates, utensils and washing machine but I pay for my own dishwashing liquid, surface spray cleaner, and washing powder. She pays for dishwasher tablets, bin liners and fuel for the mower.

My parents think I'm paying too much but I think what I'm paying is fair. My girlfriend may be moving in, in about a month and my parents think I shouldn't pay any extra. I'm very happy with the current living arrangements and what I'm paying. I was thinking of offering an extra $10 a week when my girlfriend moves in to help cover extra electricity usage. What are your thoughts about what I'm paying now and should I pay extra when my gf moves in?

Financial

Comments

  • tsunamisurfer on 16/07/2017 - 20:52
    +26

    Aren't you getting enough action from the 50 year old and her daughter already?

    • HardQuiz on 17/07/2017 - 01:03

      Doesn't hurt to have the gf join on the fun

  • spackbace on 16/07/2017 - 20:52
    +1

    How old are you if you don't mind me asking (you mention 2 kids), and do you work full-time?

    • Neatoboy on 16/07/2017 - 21:04
      +1

      I'm 40 and work full time. This isn't a long term living arrangement, just until I save enough for bond for my own place.

      • spackbace on 16/07/2017 - 21:18

        10 months, saving the balance of the rent @ ~$200/week = $8000, or
        4 weeks rent (bond) + first 2 weeks rent = $2550

        Would've only needed to put away $63.75 per week and you'd be able to have your own place for the girlfriend and the girls.

        I think it's gonna get very crowded having your gf there, and if it was me I'd be doing everything I could to have my own space with the gf, especially at your age.

        • Neatoboy on 16/07/2017 - 21:29

          I haven't been able to save any money over the past 10 months and have got into more debt unfortunately. I'll be able to start saving money in about a month thankfully due to my circumstances changing.

      • trustnoone on 16/07/2017 - 21:24
        +3

        I think its a bit of an odd one, if rent is $425 a week, then 425/2 is $212.50 which is the maximum I'd assumed you'd pay, and I'd also assume you get 50 percent of the place since you're paying half the rent. It /sounds/ like you're paying more then half the rent and yet getting less then half the place, worse so if you add her daughter meaning you'd think rent would be split by 3? But then if your gf comes in and you split it by 4, you're back to essentially paying $212.50 for yours and your gf's half (ergo no need for extra) (Also yeah I know I didn't count in like half the stuff you mentioned like who owned what and who pays for what).

        I didn't read who was paying for the bills though, is it shared?

        At the end of the day, this comment you make here kind of ties it all together for me. Essentially are you overpaying? Probably yeah.

        But it seems like you're overpaying because it is a convenient place (has room for your kids as well), you can leave once you save up enough for bond and you're looking for this to be only short term anyway.

        If its short term as you say, I'd probably personally pay that bit extra for the conveniences you're getting. Of course you can probably argue for cheaper rent but personally I've paid more for convenience.

        • Neatoboy on 16/07/2017 - 21:32

          Rent includes electricity and internet and use of their furnishings plus a few extras as per my OP

      • bobbified on 16/07/2017 - 22:42
        +2

        Have you had a look into this?

        https://www.qld.gov.au/housing/renting/bond-loan-eligibility…

        It's a loan scheme for rental bonds - have a look to see if you meet the eligibility criteria.

  • WatchNerd on 16/07/2017 - 22:00
    +1

    Maybe you can come to an arrangement with the mother to offer your time instead of paying more money to perform any maintenance that's required.

    • bobbified on 16/07/2017 - 22:45
      +3

      instead of paying more money to perform any maintenance that's required.

      That's not a bad idea - help the mother clean out the cobwebs. If you do a good job, she may pay you to live there instead! hh

  • BigBirdy on 16/07/2017 - 22:26
    +10

    You're occupying 2 of 4BRs (even if one is only a couple of days/week), and about half the living area. A little short on the garage, but you do have the comfort of the master bedroom, though possibly slight bathroom inconvenience re your kids. She's paying significantly more on the bills, and provides most furnishings. I'd say you should be paying more than she, and if you want your g/f to move in, I suggest you sweeten the deal further. I'd expect your g/f would add more than $10/week electricity, (plus water and/or any other shared consumables?), use the lady's stuff, and you'll be up at 4 persons on 2 days to her 2 persons. If you don't want things to sour, make sure the lady and her daughter don't feel outnumbered.

  • Nice one baby on 16/07/2017 - 22:54
    +1

    Is your girlfriend going to stay for free? Pay $50 more a week but get your girl to pay half, your costs will drop down to $140 a week. Score!

    • m9 on 16/07/2017 - 22:59
      +2

      Nice one, baby.

  • tassieeagle on 16/07/2017 - 23:30
    +3

    Why don't you just talk to your land lady about you gf moving in and see what she says about additional fees? After all, she owns the place and sets the rent and rules

  • Tyronomo on 17/07/2017 - 09:09

    Does the original deal specify the number of persons, or just the room? If the latter = easy.
    Otherwise you are entering into (re)negotiations.
    No extra is your best case, start with that. Only work towards the 10$ extra if needed.

  • Cheeper on 17/07/2017 - 09:26

    I assume the extra person living there would have to be notified to the agent or owner? In that case there may be an increase in the total rent for the place.. hopefully not, but they should be advised of the intention.
    Discuss it with the mother and go from there. I assume these people have all met and get along?
    Your arrangement sounds fair for what you are getting but expect to pay more for the g/f moving in and it is only right that she pays half of your portion.
    Does the g/f have kids and will they be visiting or staying over occasionally?

  • cupcake on 17/07/2017 - 11:05

    Yes. You should pay more if an additional person is staying!

  • bigeater on 17/07/2017 - 11:20
    +1

    $230 weekly payment includes electricity and internet sounds a very fair rate considering you occupy 2 bedrooms including the master room. And extra $10 won't even cover the extra electricity consumptions for an additional person not to mention the further inconvenience caused to the lady and her daughter.

    • Neatoboy on 18/07/2017 - 20:06

      An extra $10 per week should easily cover electricity usage for an additional person. That's an extra $520 per year.

  • Cheapskate Paul on 18/07/2017 - 21:45

    I would ask the mother what she thinks is reasonable. She might not even want an extra person living there. I think anything up to $50 a week would be reasonable. If you're not prepared to pay what she wants then you'll have to find another place to live if you want to live with your girlfriend.

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