OWN YOUR KID'S COLLEGE HOME ONE PARENT'S STORY: $4,000 FOR 3 YEARS OF HOUSING KATHY FETTKE & DONNA BEHRENS
Hall says this solution might not
work for everyone, but it’s a good
opportunity for some parents.
She says: “It might be easier
than people think. I don’t know if
FHA still offers that program
where you can be the co
borrower. But two years ago it
did. Lending rules are always
changing, but at that time you
could do it and we did.”
Their next strategic move was to
turn the 3bedroom home into a
4bedroom home, with permits.
Mitchell is now living in one room rent free and getting $500 for each of the other three rooms. That’s enough
to pay the mortgage, and his truck payment! They also increased the equity on the home by increasing the
number of bedrooms.
Basically, the home is now paying for itself, and they will benefit over the longrun from the equity, and
appreciation. When you compare the situation to the one in Berkeley, Hall says: “It’s the tale of two cities. The
amount it costs for my son’s mortgage payment, all in, principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, in a house that
four people live in… is the same as my daughter renting a room with two other girls in Berkeley.”
Real Life Lesson for a Son in College
Kaaren's son is also gaining some very important experience. By making good on the loan, she says her son
will get out of college with “an incredibly decent credit rating.” He’s also learning how to be a landlord and
how to deal with issues like an overflowing toilet that turns into a
mold problem. She says it’s all fixed now, but he had to put on
his “responsibility cap” and get it resolved.
Kaaren said, “It’s a big change from his former days when she
had a hard time getting him to take out the garbage. Now he
does it out of “pride of ownership.”