Renting My Townhouse in a College Town

[Gerd Conner]

Greetings BP!!

So, I am currently residing with my family in a 2/2 townhouse in Huntsville, Tx.  We are currently working on getting our former primary residence sold in Spring (N. Houston), and when that closes, we will be looking for another primary in Huntsville (that I want to live and flip, but that is another story....)

I have a few questions and am looking for opinions as well as facts, if any can be dug up from the information that I can give....

1 - I really, REALLY do not want undergraduate 'kids' in this townhouse.  What can be done to target it towards an older audience?  Is it legal to give a discount for post-graduate students and/or families?  

2 - Appliances - I plan to leave the refrigerator and washer and dryer in the house.  I don't want to have to move it, and my better half wants better appliances.  One option that I considered is 'leasing' the appliances monthly to the new tenant, whoever that is....Say $25/mo for washer and dryer and $25/mo for fridge....or just leave the fridge as part of the package...that seems to be standard in this particular townhome community.  

3 - Attic space.....do you typically allow tenants the use of the attic?  I have built in some storage in the attic, and the HVAC equipment is up there....I really don't want someone messing around that stuff if I don't have to.  Are there any rules about this? 

4 - HVAC - How do you ensure that your tenant is changing the HVAC filters every month?  I don't have an issue doing this myself, as I live (or will be living) local, and it would give me a chance to get into the unit for a quick look-around, but what are y'all's thoughts?

I've lurked on BP for years....finally getting involved....thank you, everyone, in advance for all of your help and guidance, and I look forward to hearing from y'all!!