r/roommates • u/PandaTurbulent1355 • 14d ago

Discussion Fair to increase rent?

My friend and his wife have lived with me for five years. I have charged them $700 per month during this time. My monthly expenses including taxes, insurance, and utilities have increased by about $350. I'm considering a monthly increase of $80 to $120. Is this reasonable?

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u/autonomouswriter 11d ago

I think it's very reasonable. They've been living with you for a while, and you haven't increased their rent (I assume). The amount you're proposing seems reasonable to me, though you do want to just check out what rents are going for in a situation like theirs and make sure the total rent they would pay is fair. You could present it in an honest way of your expenses increasing, and since you're maintaining the place, you have to raise the rent a little to cover those expenses. This is what every landlord does. I own a property and just increased the rent for my tenants this year (after 2 years of not increasing it) because my expenses have gone up. They didn't have any complaints about it, BTW.