Renting a room vs Renting an Apt or House (rental, condo)

[TravelingBard]

Hi - I plan to move to SD within the next couple of months. Meanwhile, have been surfing the options on Craigslist for a space/place to live. It seems that many are asking $800-1200 plus utilities for a room, some with private bathrooms, to be shared within their 2-4 BR apt, condo or home. Meanwhile, I see a large # of 2 and 3 br apts and homes with several baths for rent at significantly less than two or three times that amount in many good neighborhoods within an easy commute from anywhere in metro SD. I'm thinking it would behoove me to rent a place and rent out the rooms myself. I would be able to do this as long as I could be fairly confident there would be a good response to the rental ads and that I would have it all rented within a few months. I would have the say in terms of pets/people's habits and first dibs on the room I would take. The offset would be that I would probably need to furnish the shared spaces, at least partially, not to mention the hassle of screening people. If it's a house, I'd be concerned about liability but with an apt I could put them on the lease and have them give their share of the security. I am a non-drinker, non-smoker and would want the same in a housemate. Not to mention that I have cats, and would prefer to keep it a cat-only home. I have seen all of these criteria in ads for rooms, so I could find that too. But if I'm renting a place at $12-1400, and I've seen several good options, I'm not going to charge $8-900 for one of the rooms. Or should I? I would think a reasonable price would attract more potential renters. Would be curious what are the thoughts of those more in the know than I am as to the rental situation in SD and if anyone has done this or currently rents out space to others. Mahalo.