Strict rent control policies mean that investors can't buy a dilapidated property, refurbish it, and drive rents up.

There's a whole new set of issues when renting out to college students, but if you can do it correctly, I think you could be very successful renting out per room in those scenarios as well.

If you send the security deposit disposition to the address they rented from you with ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED written in the area between the address block and stamp you'll get a postcard back with the details if the mail is forwarded. 

It goes without saying that you should get the lease agreements as soon as possible so that you can have some transparency into the number of occupants, the rent, any agreements, utilities paid/not paid by the tenant, parking, storage, responsibilities like lawn/snow, expiration dates, special clauses, etc. 

So, I want to caution you to read all the details carefully.Before renting a dumpster, it's important to check the weight limitations and duration before you commit to any rental company:1.

But it can a good area for cash flow because rents are high in comparison to house prices and seem to be stable.

You will need to learn how to run comps, figure out what rents are in the area and build connections to PM's, GC's, etc. 

Especially if you're doing rent by the room.

Even just an accurate rent estimator would be huge.

I’m the meantime I was able to find a new tenant who has paid the security deposit, first month rent, and has scheduled utilities to be transferred to their name but no lease has been signed yet.