Screening for MTR and Coliving (Education Requirement?)

[Kristine Ann]

Dumb question, but is coliving (renting out rooms individually) and MTR the same thing?  

I'm looking into starting renting individual rooms in an area that has a housing shortage.  I'm thinking of making the main requirement to live in the home be a master's degree.  I'm looking to rent to new teachers and health professionals and my thinking is that besides nurses, most have a master's degree or are currently working on their master's degree. Is that a strange thing to require?  I'm just trying to think how to create a community of individuals who will get along and are similar in some way without discrimination.  

Also, can I insist on single occupancy in each room without violating antidiscrimination laws?  I'm not against couples, kids or families at all, I'm just concerned about the ratio of people to bathrooms.  I'm accustomed to the regulations on LTR, but not sure about MTR.

Are there any resources you can recommend?

[Bonnie Low]

Co-living is one niche within the broader MTR segment. I absolutely would not recommend that you attempt to limit who you are renting to based on their level of education. That in and of itself is likely to spark some discrimination problems for you and level of education is no guarantee that people will get along anyway. They can have vastly different backgrounds, religions, political ideologies etc and still have the same level of degree. When you are renting to multiple people it is their responsibility to get along with one another, not yours. You can attempt to assure compatibility by interviewing them and taking into consideration your other tenants, but at the end of the day, they're adults and it's up to them to get along. Anyone who makes friction for other guests can have their lease terminated and that should be very clearly spelled out in the lease itself. This situation is why I don't like the rent by room model and wouldn't use it myself, but some people are very successful at running harmonious co-living arrangements.