Rent by the Room Questions

[Matthew Defore]

Who's renting by the room on their properties? I'm interested in experimenting with this on one of my condos in a college town.  My questions are:

-How do you try to pair up compatible "roommates" without having fair housing law issues?  I'm concerned that if I do the regular first come first serve method, I will mismatch tenants who will conflict with each other. 

-How did you approach utilities?  I'm considering charging rent + a flat fee each month for utilities + charge any overages to the tenant if they exceed the prepaid amount (divided evenly among the three rooms).  Is this worth the headache, or should I just cover utilities outright and up the price?  For those who pay utilities, did you install a nest thermostat that will allow you to monitor it remotely to ensure that they are not taking extreme advantage of the flat rate fees?

-I'm planning to lightly furnish the common areas, but not the bedrooms

-In your experience, how much easier is it to fill vacancies with quality tenants on rent by the room compared to traditional renting?

-In a college town, there are often advertisements for informal subleases and such for students who leave mid-semester or otherwise.  How can I compete with the informal subletter?

-Any suggestions for extra language in the lease for rent by the room? I'm thinking of some type of fee-based incentive to enforce quiet hours after 10pm, etc.