More Homeowners Taking in Boarders

The New York Times has a story today on a growing trend: homeowners taking in boarders in order to help make financial ends meet as their incomes decline and/or their mortgage payments increase. Actually, this is something I have done myself as have several friends and clients. In my case, it is also nice to not be alone in the house all the time. My current roommate is in the Navy and works crazy watch schedules so often we barely see each other for a number of days when he is working evening to early morning watches. How McCain and Phil Graham can believe that the current financial strain so many are feeling is only due to "whining" when people are being forced to rent out portions of their homes is a bit frightening. The country cannot afford another president like the Chimperator who has no clue of reality. Sadly, McCain looks more and more out of touch - as one blog has commented, he still thinks Czechoslovakia is a country even though it ceased to exist 15 years ago when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Here are some highlights from the NYT story:

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With residential mortgage foreclosures still on the rise, more homeowners nationwide are considering Miss Terry’s choice: whether to take in a boarder to keep their homes. Modest but growing numbers are turning to agencies nationwide like the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center Homesharing Program in Baltimore, which screen boarders to find appropriate matches and relieve some of the fear of strangers.

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In some communities, local zoning laws or homeowner associations may limit the number of nonrelated people who can live in a house. Ms. Brennan said that home-sharing could help some people caught in the housing downturn, but that its benefits were limited. “Where we see it being of value is if someone is having short-term problems,” she said. “The average stay of a sharer is about a year, and some are much less. It’s good for someone leaving a marriage or a relationship, or going to school. You can’t count on it as a regular income. It’s a stopgap.”

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Renée Drell, executive director of HomeSharing Inc., in Bridgewater, N.J., where home-shares rose 14 percent last year, said that as mortgage payments, heating costs and taxes have all risen, homeowners are asking for higher rents to share their homes, often more than seekers can afford.

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But Ms. Dunn, of HomeShare Vermont, said people should not look at home-sharing only as a last resort or a financial Band-Aid. “When you look at the data on people living alone, they tend to die younger and be sicker. We’ve done surveys, and people say they’re happier, sleeping and eating better, and feel safer in their homes with someone around. If I sold you that as a drug, you’d pay thousands of dollars.”