College rental with roommates

[Jeff Dietz]

Hello BP community! I hope everyone is doing well.

I have been lurking for a few years, and I have finally gotten to make my first deal. It is a fairly large 3 bedroom 2.5 bath duplex in eastern Kentucky in a college town. The other side of the duplex is an identical unit but it is not ready to rent yet.

The best tenant prospect at this time are 3 young men who are recent university grads and will be on the lease for $900 per month total for one side of the duplex. They are beyond the income requirements but they do not have extensive credit so one of them will be having a parent as a co-signer.

I am using mysmartmove as I like the fact that the tenant can pay directly and fill out their information. My question is this:

In the scenario that I described, would it make sense to have all 3 tenants as well as the co-signer fill out a mysmartmove application? It just seems kind of excessive to have 4 people paying $40 each. If not, are there any alternative recommendations?

[Carolina E.]

@Jeff Dietz Hi Jeff.  Yes I would have all 4 run the checks.  You want to make sure who you are renting to, that they don't have a criminal record you are not comfortable with.  Landlord usually always do checks on anyone living in the house 18 and older.  You should make it standard and not sway from your requirements.  Also, be sure the co-signer knows he is on the hook for the whole payment if no one pays, not just his son.