Renting to friends - What's your take?

[Desmond Fielding]

Hello, my wife and I are moving at the end of the year and plan to rent our current primary residence (SFH 3bd 2ba) it will be our first rental. One of my wife's friends who knows we're moving and planning to rent reached out that she and her fiancé were interested in renting our house. What has been everyone's experience with renting to friends?

I was a little hesitant to rent to friends as I would prefer to keep business and family/friends separate, but to give a little more context they have been friends for many years and do seem like they'd take care of the property, however you can never be 100% sure. Her friend is a hairdresser and the fiancé is just starting med-school. The one reason I am interested is that they're looking for a long term place as the fiancé will be in med-school for the next 4 - 8 years, so it would be nice to not have a ton of turnover. What's your thoughts?

Thanks in advance!