In private rental housing, it is not necessary for either party to give a reason for ending the tenancy, although a landlord may not give such a notice for an illegal reason."

There is a breakeven point where you can charge almost as much money for less people and thereby reduce your risk/hassles/cleaning/damages/parties/EtcYou just gotta figure out what that is for your area.... 

@Ricardo Ramirez I'd say either one, depending on what the other party is comfortable with. 

If so, should the tenant fill out the application or should I have the financially responsible party fill out the application.

Explain the ownership with other party, and let them answer. 

Returning with the outcome and lessons learned in case another newbie stumbles upon this:I got a third-party structural engineer (a company that does not do foundation work) and sure enough, the house was in bad shape. 

I am fairly certain that the attorney would have caught that mistake in Illinois, but in Indiana there isn't a 3rd party checking things over. 

All parties involve made a profit and also we learn a lot about different ways of raising money.

That’s a new one for meThere's an old South Park episode where there's a meteor shower party and Stan is stuck in the basement with a bunch of annoying kids he refers to as Melvins. 

Having family involved sounds great but project managing can be daunting and I would pay a 3rd party person to ensure things are truly done correctly if you are trying to find affordable contractors.