Everything you need to rent rooms well
Clear, practical, up-to-date guides for small landlords. No legalese.
Splitting Utility Bills Among Flatmates: 4 Methods Compared
Four ways to split utility bills with flatmates. One is easiest. One is fairest. They are not the same method.
Ghost Tenant: What to Do When Someone Stops Responding
When a tenant goes silent, escalate slowly and document everything. Here is how.
Flatmate Conflict: When (and How) a Landlord Should Step In
Most flatmate fights aren't yours to fix. A few are. Here's how to tell the difference — and what to do when the line is crossed.
Late Rent: How to Chase Without Burning the Relationship
Most late rent isn't bad faith — it's a bank error or a paycheck timing issue. Chase it tactfully and you usually recover it.
Tenant Communication Rules: Set Them on Day One
Most landlord-tenant disputes aren't legal — they're communication breakdowns. Prevent them on day one.
Tenant Handover Meeting: What to Cover on Key Day
One calm meeting on key day prevents most of the disputes that show up months later.
Move-In Inventory Template That Holds Up in Disputes
The document that decides every future deposit argument is the one you write on day one.
Tenant Onboarding: The First 7 Days That Set the Tone
What you do in week one quietly decides how the next 12 months will go.
Co-Signer or Guarantor: What They Do and When to Ask
When a guarantor is the right tool — and when asking for one quietly crosses into discrimination.
Income Proof for Tenants: What's Reasonable, What Crosses the Line
What income documents you can reasonably ask for — and where proportionate screening turns into an intrusive overreach.
The 5-Step Tenant Interview Every Small Landlord Should Run
A simple 5-step in-person interview structure that turns a fuzzy chat into a fair, defensible decision.
Pre-Move-Out Walkthrough: The 2-Week Soft Inspection
How a 30-minute soft inspection two weeks before move-out prevents most deposit disputes: notice template, walkthrough script, decision flow, and edge cases.
The Deposit Dispute That Taught Me Everything
A first-person account of a deposit dispute gone wrong, and five concrete lessons it forced on me about documentation, communication, and when to compromise.
Photo-Documenting Damages: The 4-Shot Rule
Four photos per damage, every time. The pattern is boring on purpose — that is what makes it convincing.
Tenant Complaints: Triaging Real Issues From Drama
Not every tenant message is an emergency. Here is how to triage complaints in four clear categories.
Tenant Red Flags: 9 Warning Signs in the First Meeting
Nine concrete warning signs to watch for when you meet a prospective tenant — and how to act on them fairly.
Tenant Screening: How to Pick Fairly Without Discriminating
A practical, fair way to pick a tenant — without crossing any anti-discrimination line.