Skip to content

Rent by the Room · A self-paced video course

Buy your first rental property, one room at a time.

Rent by the Room is the method we use on our own rentals: buy a house with more bedrooms than a typical family wants, rent each room on its own agreement, and let that income do the heavy lifting on the mortgage. You don't live there. This course walks you from the first search to the first tenants.

  • Nine self-paced video lessons you can finish in a weekend or a month
  • The templates and calculators we actually use (coming soon)
  • Two phone calls with Shannon: a 30-minute 1:1 and a 15-minute follow-up

$297 one-time. Lifetime access. No subscription.

By purchasing, you agree to the Terms of Use. See also our Privacy Policy.

The problem

Why a first investment property feels out of reach

Most people who want to invest in real estate never buy anything. Not because they aren't smart or disciplined — because the standard path has three walls built into it.

  • The math on a normal rental often doesn't work

    In an expensive market like Seattle, renting a whole house to one household frequently brings in less than the mortgage, taxes, and insurance cost. So you run the numbers, they come out negative, and you stop.

  • Nobody shows you the whole process

    Financing, searching, offering, inspecting, closing, finding tenants, writing agreements — each piece has a thousand forum threads and no one puts them in order. It's easy to spend two years reading and zero years owning.

  • The same down payment buys a loss

    You save up for an investment property, run a whole-house lease against the mortgage, and the number comes out negative. It feels like the only fix is a bigger down payment or a cheaper market. Usually it's neither.

The method

Rent by the Room, in plain language

You buy a house with more bedrooms than a typical family wants — four, five, six. You don't live in it. You rent each bedroom to an individual tenant, each on their own agreement, and the tenants share the kitchen, bathrooms, and common areas.

Because you're collecting several room rents instead of one whole-house rent, the total income is usually higher than a single lease on the same house. That difference is what can make a first property pencil in a market where ordinary rentals don't.

And because it's one house, you carry one roof, one furnace, one tax bill, and one insurance policy — the income of several units with the maintenance footprint of one property.

That's the whole idea. The course is about doing it carefully: the right house, the right numbers, a fair and consistent tenant process, and a setup that keeps the house peaceful for the people living in it while you manage it from a distance.

Results vary. Every property, lender, and market is different, and nothing here is a promise of income or appreciation.

What you’ll learn

Nine lessons, first house to first tenants

Watch in order or jump to the step you’re on. Each lesson is one video.

  1. Lesson 1: Welcome and how the method works

    An introduction to renting by the room and how the course is laid out.

    • What "rent by the room" means and how it differs from renting a whole property to one household
    • Who the course is for, and what a realistic first purchase looks like
    • How the course is organized: the nine lessons in order, and how the templates and calculators fit in
    • How to use your two calls with Shannon (the 30-minute strategy call now and the 15-minute follow-up within 12 months)
    • What the course is and isn't: education, not legal, tax or investment advice, and not a guarantee of any result

  2. Lesson 2: Find a property

    What makes a house work for renting by the room, and running the numbers before you offer.

    • Why room-by-room income changes the math on a first property
    • What to look for: bedrooms, bathrooms, layout, parking, and location
    • Running the numbers on a real listing
    • Financing a rental you won't live in: what to ask your lender

  3. Lesson 3: Structure of your entity

    How to hold the property.

    • Why investors often hold rental property in a business entity instead of their own name
    • Common structures at a high level, such as LLCs, and how they differ from owning personally
    • How the entity connects to your loan, insurance, bank account and bookkeeping
    • Keeping the entity's money separate from your own
    • Questions to bring to your attorney and CPA before you set one up

  4. Lesson 4: Remodeling

    Turning a house into a home that works for several people.

    • Deciding what to change: rooms, locks, and shared spaces
    • Bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry: can the house handle the headcount?
    • Furnished or unfurnished: deciding what you provide
    • Safety basics: detectors, egress, and keys

  5. Lesson 5: Advertising

    Listing the rooms, pricing them, and lining up move-in dates.

    • Timing: when to list and how to stagger move-ins
    • Writing a room listing that attracts the right inquiries
    • Photos and pricing the room
    • Showings and a screening process you apply the same way every time

  6. Lesson 6: Leases

    Room rental agreements: what to include and why.

    • What a room agreement needs to cover
    • House rules and shared spaces, written into the agreement
    • Deposits and move-in paperwork
    • Adapting the agreement to your city and state

  7. Lesson 7: Rent collection

    The routine that keeps the house calm and the books clean.

    • Collecting rent and keeping records
    • Utilities, internet, and splitting shared costs
    • Maintenance requests and communication
    • Keeping the peace between housemates

  8. Lesson 8: Move Out

    Ending a tenancy cleanly and getting the room ready for the next person.

    • Notice, the move-out inspection, and the checklist
    • Returning the deposit
    • Turnover: from one tenant to the next

  9. Lesson 9: FAQ's

    The questions we get asked most, answered in short.

    • Do I have to live in the house?
    • What if a tenant stops paying?
    • Does this work outside Seattle?

What’s included

Everything you need to go from reading to owning

  • Self-paced video lessons

    Nine video lessons, plus a welcome video, that you can watch in any order and come back to as you go. Lifetime access, including updates.

  • Templates and calculators (coming soon)

    The working documents behind each step — so you're filling in numbers, not building spreadsheets from scratch. We'll email you when they're ready.

    • Deal analysis calculator
    • Room rental agreement template
    • Tenant screening checklist
    • House rules template
    • Move-in / move-out checklist
    • Monthly operating tracker

  • Two phone calls with Shannon

    An initial 1:1 call of 30 minutes to walk through your situation — your budget, your market, the house you're looking at — and a 15-minute follow-up you can schedule any time after, within 12 months of your purchase. To schedule your call, just reply to your welcome email. The calls are educational and general guidance only.

Everything above for $297, one time.

Videos, both phone calls, and the templates and calculators (coming soon).

By purchasing, you agree to the Terms of Use. See also our Privacy Policy.

Shannon Nossum

Meet your instructor

Shannon Nossum

Shannon Nossum created and teaches this course. Shannon and her husband Christian own and operate rent-by-the-room properties in the Seattle area, and everything in the course comes from running them — the house hunting, the financing, the screening, the 2 a.m. plumbing texts, all of it.

The first property is the hardest one. This course is the step-by-step version of what Shannon would hand to a friend who wanted to start.

Featured in

Appearances are listed for context. No show or outlet is affiliated with this course or endorses it.

This course is for you if…

  • You want to buy your first investment property and you'd rather do it carefully than quickly.
  • You've looked at ordinary rentals and the numbers didn't work.
  • You're willing to manage a handful of tenants yourself, without living with them.
  • You want a process you can follow, not a motivational speech.

It's probably not for you if…

  • You're looking for passive income with no involvement. A rent-by-the-room house is a small, real business.
  • You already own several rentals and want advanced tax or syndication strategy.
  • You need a guarantee. Real estate doesn't come with one, and neither does this course.

Questions

Common questions

How does access work?

After you check out, you'll get a welcome email with the link to your course videos. To schedule your call, just reply to your welcome email. The videos are hosted privately on Vimeo and available only through the course access page we link you to. The templates and calculators are coming soon; we'll email you when they're ready. The course is nine video lessons, self-paced with lifetime access, so you can start today or next month and revisit any lesson whenever you want.

What's the refund policy?

Our refund policy is: a full refund within 14 days of purchase, on request by email. Refunds aren't available after the initial 30-minute 1:1 call has taken place. To request a refund, email Shannon@AwesomeNossum.com from the address you used at checkout.

How do the phone calls work?

The course includes two phone calls with Shannon: 30-minute initial 1:1 call, and a 15-minute follow-up call you can schedule any time after the initial call, within 12 months of your purchase date. To schedule your call, just reply to your welcome email. Most people get the most out of the first call after finishing the lessons and running the calculator on a real listing or two. The calls are educational and general guidance only, not advice on a specific transaction.

Can I book more calls?

Additional phone consultations may be offered separately for a fee. They aren't included in the course price; if offered, they'll be priced and described at the time of purchase.

Is this financial, legal, or tax advice?

No. This is educational content based on our own experience. It isn't legal, tax, financial, or real estate advice, and landlord-tenant laws vary by city and state — check your local rules and talk to a qualified professional before you act on anything.

I'm not in Seattle. Does this still apply?

The method applies anywhere people rent rooms, and the calculators work with your local numbers. Examples use Seattle-area figures because that's where our properties are. Local laws differ, so the agreements and screening lessons stress adapting to your jurisdiction.

Do I need to be pre-approved or have a down payment saved first?

No. The lesson on finding a property covers what to look for and how to run the numbers before you ever talk to a lender, so you know what to ask. Plenty of people start the course well before they're ready to buy.

What exactly do I get for $297?

All nine video lessons, two phone calls with Shannon (a 30-minute initial call and a 15-minute follow-up), and every template and calculator (coming soon). It's a single payment with no subscription or upsell.

I have a question before buying.

Email Shannon@AwesomeNossum.com and you'll get a real answer, not an autoresponder.

Buy your first rental, one room at a time.

Rent by the Room: nine self-paced video lessons, two phone calls with Shannon, and every template and calculator (coming soon) — $297, one time.

By purchasing, you agree to the Terms of Use. See also our Privacy Policy.

This course is educational content only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Landlord-tenant, fair housing, zoning, and occupancy laws vary by city and state — consult a qualified professional and your local rules before acting on anything you learn. Results vary; nothing on this page is a guarantee of income, appreciation, or any specific outcome.

$297 one-timeIncludes two calls