New Tenant Payment

[Brendan R.]

I have approved someone for an apartment.  They are planning to move in December 1st.  I wanted to get together with them tomorrow or Saturday to sign the lease and collect first month's rent and security deposit - $1800 total. 

He said we could just wait until the 28th.  Should I stand firm on signing the lease and collecting the funds within two days?  I plan to continue showing it if he doesn't agree.  

How do you handle the timeline for collecting first month's rent, security deposit and signing the lease agreement?