Renting to a side hustle auto-mechanic?

[Jen Anderson]

Hi all,

We just bought a property from a guy who had a construction business which he ran on the property (he also lived here). We have several garages and one used to be rented out as a workshop. We are trying to rent it again and the only interested party right now is a BMW auto-mechanic who has a side hustle on the weekends fixing BMWs for cash. I've been reading about the pitfalls around auto shops (soil & drinking water contamination, etc.). 

Should I steer clear of this situation or do you think it's viable? Would love to hear any & all advice that you can share.

PS- now I know why the prior owner had double filtration for his drinking water :)