Renting out a room to a stranger

I agree with what everyone has said here.

The tricky part is that you are sharing the house with the person.

A few things:

1.) Have a deposit for at least one month's worth of rent. State that it will be returned upon a.) thorough inspection of where they stayed and b.) upon staying the full length of time specified within the contract.

2.) Require references. I would suggest at least two personnel and two work references. For each, you should get a number, an address, what their current occupation is and when they can normally be reached. Make sure you call those people with a few pre-determined questions to ask about the potential rentee. If they had a previous landlord that speaks English or whatever languages you can speak, encourage him/her to be included as well.
I should note that there are some irregular situations with this one. When I returned, I have lived in China for three years so I didn't have a landlord, didn't have to pay rent, etc. My landlady I think gave my and my wife the benefit of the doubt (although honestly she was renting out the entire apartment, not a space).

3.) Have a very detailed list of rules and regulations. Some things to consider:
Bed Time/Quiet Time - What time should things become quiet.

Lock-Out and Leave time - What time will you lock the door (if that is an issue)? What time do people need to leave? Are there special circumstances (fiancee, etc).

Smoking - Do you allow smoking? If so, where? Would there be any extra fees (remember that the smoke can damage the property over time).

Water Beds - Do you allow this (thing of the potential mess)?

Pets - Do you allow pets (think of the potential mess)? If so, which types and how many? What about the noise factor (some dogs bark really loud)?

Time Payment is Due - When is payment due? If it's overdue, what is the penalty? How many strikes do they get before you throw them out?

Walls and Furniture - What furniture, if any, do you provide to their room? What policies do you have with the furniture? For the walls, are they allowed to hang stuff up, tape stuff up, paint it, etc?

Rest of House Furniture - What rules do you have with regards to furniture in the house? What about cleaning?

Cleaning - What rules do you have regarding keeping the house/room/dishes clean? What penalties do you have? How many strikes do you give them before a penalty/throwing them out?

Permission - What things can they do WITHOUT your permission. This is much easier than listing the things they can do with your permission.

Cable/Internet - How are these luxaries and others handled? Do they ahve to get a seperate service, do they get on yours for a fee, or do you throw them in? What happens if the individual wants a.) more channels, b.) pay per view, c.) faster Internet or even d.) less channels/slow Internet for a cheaper price?

Private Corners - What parts of the house are yours alone and should not be entered?

Parking - Where can the person park?

Special Rules - Any other special rules (e.g. Never use the dish washer because it's too expensive, heat should never go beyond a certain temperature)?

4.) Make sure they know of the necessary information ahead of time. That includes trash pick-up, etc.

5.) For water/electricity/heat, this is tricky. A few basic thoughts on each:

Heat - This shouldn't change too much even with a second person in the house unless you have been heating/cooling one portion of the house only. I would find out the average between each season. I would then average that together to get a yearly average, add ten dollars (for the added heat/cooling that extra person might have), divide that by two and add that into the rent. You can state that if the bill goes over a certain point (10 dollars over the average for that season) that you can charge extra.

Water - This will most likely double depending on what you use water for. Some questions might include things such as do you use a dishwasher, is sewage/trash pick-up included, etc. If anything, double the amount, then divide that in half and add it to the rent.

Electricity - This is the hardest one. The person living with you could be gobbling kilowatts up as if they were going out of style or they might hate almost all things electronic. I would almost suggest having this as seperate but then thinks would be awkward having everything else as one bill. I suppose you can double this amount, then divide by two and add that portion to their rent.

Keep in mind you might also have them be aware that you'll keep a watch on things. If you see them leaving lights on all over the house, leaving the water running, etc, that you'll charge them extra. Make sure they are aware of specific rules and limits for heat/water usage.

6.) Have two copies of the contract. Both sign a copy and each keeps one.

7.) Interview/do background checks on MULTIPLE candidates.

8.) Check around the area to see what prices are, especially with a situation similar to yours (renting out an extra room). If you have friends who have done this, ask them about it (prices, what they gave, etc). You might even consider pretending to be someone interested in a few places just to get a feel of a.) the competition to see what they are offering comparing to you and b.) how people handle rules/money/etc as they should have more experience.

How ya doing, buddy?