Lost my roommate: now what?

[Patrick Allen]

Hey everybody! Got a question out of the American Southwest concerning tenant screening.

Skipping over the entire sad story about my roommate saying he wanted the place and backing out at the last minute (two roommates, actually. Don't do business with friends: I got it), I have an empty room in my house I need to fill. It's a nice house, big room, private bathroom and cool roommates. A great find for someone who fits our mold.

I've asked a local investor (the president of my REIA) for his advice, but I'm also taking it to the forums. I know some general principles about tenant screening from Bigger Pockets blog posts and books, but I wanted to ask some additional best practices from the BP universe.

Price-wise I am asking roughly the equivalent of a 1/1 apartment ($500/month; rental comps are $400-500) in rent due to the big bedroom and private bath, but ran my original numbers on $100 less than that (and I get the better bedroom); I feel it is more marketable than a smaller room and a shared bath.

I'm mostly concerned with the screen itself. It's important that we find someone we can all get along with because we are splitting a 3/2 with shared kitchen, yard, etc. So the devil is in the interview, along with the background check and reference check.

What would you do in my shoes? First mortgage payment is due Feb 1. I'm financially okay with carrying the empty room for a while, but doing that turns my asset into a liability (although a cheap one). So I want to marry the best screening job with an as soon as I find the right person timeline.

For anybody who knows Tucson: do you have a referral for me?

Thanks in advance, everybody!