Renting a single family home to multiple tenants can be done, but it’s important that you distinguish between renting the property out as a whole and renting it out bedroom by bedroom. You just need to be careful. Some owners are under the impression they can rent out individual bedrooms in their homes, but it really depends on your location and corresponding zoning laws.
Home for Rent vs. Rooms for Rent
So, maybe you have a four bedroom property and there are four tenants who want to occupy it. Instead of renting out the entire house, you might want to rent out each of the four bedrooms separately to each tenant, and then use the kitchen and living room as common areas. Depending on your area and its zoning laws, this may or may not be permissible. So check to make sure your property is allowed to accommodate this sort of situation. If you have an R1 zoning, you need to rent the property out in its entirety to people or a family. So if you have four tenants, they would have to be renting the entire property together and you wouldn’t break it down by bedroom. If you do have the ability, go ahead and do it.
Changing Your Zoning – Variances
You can also attempt to change your zoning when you’re renting to multiple tenants. We see this most often around colleges. Usually, you will find four different students who want to rent out part of the property for different time periods. So, it’s easier for the landlord to rent out individual rooms on a 
monthly rent basis. If you aren’t currently zoned for this, you can apply for a variance through your county or city or municipality.
If you need anything or have questions about property management in Colorado Springs, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Muldoon Associates.
