When Land Park resident Ken Parks was first strolling through the listing of available places he wanted to rent, he thought “wow, newly built, upscale neighborhood, pool, gym, great price, quiet home away from home living, what more could a guy ask”. However the listing that Parks was searching through wasn’t your typical rental listing in the apartment or home market, it was a room space being rented by a homeowner out of her Natomas condo complex. Parks, a 34 year-old state employee represents a growing number of people within Sacramento County and around the country that have taken to calling someone else’s home their home with room space renting or sub-leasing housing. It is not a totally new concept, nor will it send traditional landlords out of business, yet it is a trend that realtor analysts say is growing during these crunching economic times. For some people they are trying to find some creative ways to save money and rather than simply moving back home with parents, as many adults are doing in the boomerang generation, they are taking the route of renting space from other professionals and family-oriented homeowners with a room to rent. They are doing it in areas from downtown Sacramento to Natomas, from Roseville to Folsom, from Davis to Elk Grove and areas beyond.

Sacramento like most of the nation had been hit hard by slow home sales and increasing foreclosures in the sagging housing market over the past few years. Recognizing one side of that ineffectuality President Obama opened up the government’s checkbook in his first year in office by using the people’s money with his home buying stimulus package as our country was headed toward its worst annual number of homes sold in decades. According to the California Association of Realtors November home sales report, in Sacramento the area had the largest statewide decrease of prior year sales at -16.5 percent. Overall for the state the number of homes sold has been solid with a 4.5 percent increase for the month of November, still this has not offset the number of vacant rental properties in the region. Until then the carryover meant people had to make to some hard choices with limited options in their standard of living, and some took to renting rooms out of existing homes in order to raise some instant cash.

Despite some enticements to get people interested in buying homes or condo’s, the loss of homes due to foreclosures, financial windfalls, and an unstable job market has forced many into renting rooms from others as an economic savings alternative. This has led to a decrease in new apartment leasing where rental prices for the county have spiked over the last 5 years. Within Sacramento the average 1 bedroom goes for $741.00 while the average 2 bedroom goes for $881.00. In some areas, realtors and property managers are taking notice to where their potential new and existing residents are going and now joining the fray by offering occupancy packages of lease to own, gifts for first-time buyers, more flexible sub-lease options, split month and automated deduction payments, and other discounts and incentives to help fill spaces of vacant apartments and houses sitting in beautiful suburban cul-del-sac neighborhoods. “With the number of people losing jobs, and the foreclosure market, we try to balance our services to help both the renter and landlord meet their needs”, says Ted White of Sacramento Delta, a property management company which specializes in listing available apartments and homes for rent.

One frequent search point for many would be room dwellers is Craigslist, as the popular community friendly site has an entrée of apartment, home, shared room, condo, and other listings, and it’s a list that keeps growing. Roommates.com another popular site boasts being the largest roommate matching service in the nation. White thinks businesses like his that serve as the go between of the landlord and renter do add value,” In order to better service our clients we have to utilize these tools (Craigslist) and yet we can pre- screen applicants for landlords thus making the process that much easier”.

In settings where these types of new living situations are working they offer a host of new relationships. Relationships that get formed with the social media circuit becoming as an ever popular way of communicating, and its not just students that are taking up these offers. Twenty or thirty years ago in the pre-Internet age people would use local newspapers or supermarket bulletin boards to post or find a room or apartment for rent. Today, people can not only search for rooms online but search with many specifications that makes it easier to find someone with similar tastes and compatible interests. Social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others have helped turn the cultural tide from the impersonal to personal. All of this buzz about room renting often makes it much easier for people to connect. It is common to find a bunch of college students of three, four, or five all living in a rented out house or condo. It makes for inexpensive luxury living on the cheap. A lot of what it takes to make such arrangements work is more than finding your next housemate simply because there is space available but connecting with people who you share other activities and interests with. This is why a lot of effort should go into any decision before making the plunge to rent from someone just because the price is a bargaining or you need someone to move in your apartment before you get evicted for lack of payment. While there is often less haggle over the normative of credit checks, criminal history, income verifications, move in deposits, or past rental history inquiries it seems the two most important things required are being respectful to each others space and pay your rental bill on time.

Unlike the rich and famous who often will rent out cottages in Martha’s Vineyard, the average Joe and Jane American are finding that renting room space can be a win-win for both parties. From college students to single professionals to church going families as long as there is a room available in a house or apartment going unused and some willingness to make some extra cash than expect this sub-leasing trend to continue. People are no longer embarrassed as they once were by the fact that they can rent room space from someone else. The layers of the taboo or stigma of being an inhabitant, house sitter, or transient is no more. Everyone is feeling the brunt of the economy and what better way to get some relief than rent that room out which was unused or was kept for storage or office space. Empty nesters, a term often referred to describe parents of grown children that have left home, will use what was once little Johnny’s or Sarah’s room as a new rental opportunity. Sometimes it even surprises the grown children that their parents are now renting out the room that they grew up in. For those that do move back home, they will sometimes find a rent bill attached to their room door as well, and makes for smart responsibility on the part of the elder parents. Most family advice counselors recommend that set boundaries when the children return and charging rent is a good way of ensuring the returning children that they won’t be able to freeload their way through these tough times. The idea is that it will make the children more accountable and understand that if they were staying somewhere else they would have to pay rent.

However the problems aren’t just older adult children returning home for free room and board, but many working adults have been out priced for housing and can’t afford to stay in a standard of living they were once accustomed to 5-10 years ago. All and all this seems like one creative housing trend that maybe here to stay until the economy gets back on its feet.