A growing number of homeowners — seniors and others — are renting out their homes or space within their residences to supplement their income.
Locally they can do this through a suburban nonprofit, or online through a vacation rental service such as Airbnb. Depending on the type of rental involved, a person could stay on a long-term or short-term basis. The benefits to homeowners may include making extra money to help with financial responsibilities or having someone help with chores or forming new friendships.
Long-term sharing?
Rose (last name withheld upon request), 87, is a Chicago resident who has been renting out a room at her home for more than 20 years through the nonprofit Center of Concern’s Home Sharing program, which matches homeowners known as “providers” with renters known as “seekers.”
Since 1978, the Park Ridge-based nonprofit social service agency has been providing services and housing solutions to seniors, the disabled and others in need living in suburban Cook County.
Through the years, Rose has had about four long-term renters, which included a single mom and her daughter. She often would have meals and conversations with her renters.
She recommends the home sharing program to anyone.
“I recommend it for the companionship,” Rose says. “Home sharing also helps somewhat because it gives you a little bit of extra money that you normally wouldn’t have.”
Making a difference in someone’s life pleases Rose. She recalls how a former renter lost his job during his stay and she didn’t charge him rent.
In another instance, Rose remembers the gratitude shared by the single mother who lived with her.
“She told her family that if it wasn’t for me she and her daughter would never have gotten their own home, which they did buy after they left,” Rose says. “I’m not here to make money; I’m here to have company and help somebody else.”
The right match
For more than 30 years, the Center of Concern’s Home Sharing program has been serving northern Cook County with a focus on the following Maine Township communities: incorporated Des Plaines, Niles, Park Ridge and portions of Morton Grove, Glenview and Rosemont. The coverage excludes Chicago but long-term providers like Rose are grandfathered into the program.
Finding a good match between providers and individual seekers is the job of Holly Rotman-Zaid, the nonprofit’s senior program operations manager who oversees the housing programs. Providers come through the nonprofit’s housing or senior services. She says that “approximately 95 percent of providers and 75 percent of seekers are 50 and over.”
Paying a nominal fee, applicants go through an extensive process that includes criminal background checks of providers and seekers and income verification of seekers. Both parties are also asked about their habits, daily activities and employment.
“As we are looking at different people, we can find good matches where people complement or contrast each other,” she says. “Maybe, there’s somebody who is a loner who wants someone who is a little more gregarious. We match people depending on how they answer their questions and by in-person and phone interviews.”
Matches, Rotman-Zaid says, can take one week to several months. Matches cannot be made, for example, for home health care instances or for very specific requests such as asking for a seeker who is of the provider’s same faith background. The nonprofit abides by Fair Housing laws that protect people from discrimination.
Providers who reside in condominiums or apartments must obtain written permission for a home sharing situation, Rotman-Zaid says. The nonprofit has a non-liability agreement stating that its role is only for matching purposes.
Home sharing can be a solution for both providers needing extra income and seekers wanting an affordable housing option.
“We all know that housing (prices) in the northwest suburban Cook County area are extremely high,” Rotman-Zaid says. “It’s very rare to find apartments that you can rent for under $1,000 a month. If you are on a fixed income from Social Security or disability, it becomes next to impossible to find housing. Secondary to that are people who had hardships whether it’s medical issues or evictions or other kinds of issues. They also have a very hard time securing a lease from a traditional renting situation.”
The nonprofit also recognizes the problem of isolation. It invites home sharing clients 55 and older to use case management services and participate in social programs focusing on intergenerational activities or social media.
Becoming a host
People also home share by rolling out the welcome mat for travelers.
They turn to companies such as the 9-year-old San Francisco-based Airbnb. On its website, the company describes itself as a “community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world.” The company is in more than 34,000 cities and 191 countries.
Receiving extra funds in one incentive. According to the company’s website, “53 percent say that hosting has helped them stay in their home and that 48 percent of host income is used to pay for regular household expenses like rent and groceries.”
Hosts fill out an online form describing their rooms, upload photos and select a price. In Chicago, for example, the average price for one guest on a private room rental is $69 per night.
Hosts set the availability and house rules and can offer amenities such as breakfast. Guests can look at host profiles, reviews and space descriptions.
The company handles the payment aspect.
For safety precautions, the company asks hosts and guests to provide photo identification and answer specific questions.
Airbnb’s website explains that, where permitted by applicable law, identification materials can be given its service providers to conduct criminal background checks for convictions and sex offender registrations. Currently, checks are “limited to users in the United States about whom we have adequate identifying information, such as the user’s full name and date of birth.”
The company’s website also lists many cities’ regulations and shares government websites. At cityofchicago.org, a summary of the recently passed Shared Housing Ordinance is available to check out requirements, restrictions and fees, including a 4 percent surcharge “on the booking of any shared housing unit or vacation rental” with proceeds being used for enforcement and administration purposes and for supportive services helping the chronically homeless.
Before signing on to any home sharing program, be sure to do your due diligence and find out if your city or town has any restrictions or ordinances which apply. If you live in a condominium or townhome, you should also check with your homeowners association to find out if this type of rental is permitted.
For information about Center of Concern, visit centerofconcern.org. For information about Airbnb, visit airbnb.com.
