Ignoring the level of effort for deposits a second... What about the revenue aspect? If you're deciding between an Admin fee and a deposit then you can figure out your additional revenue per year. Maybe a few people will change their behavior if there's a deposit but the ones that are going to leave a mess will do so regardless. So you'll get: # of move ins per year * Admin fee, and that'll add to your bottom line. Adding in that revenue of course increases your NOI which also increases your sales price depending upon the cap rate. I'd rather go that route than deposits but each person has to choose for themselves.