Make sure the tenant signs a lease or some form of contract. Make sure to get a security deposit from the renter to help pay for any damage that is bound to occur to the rental unit. I've heard of landlords running financial and background checks on prospective tenants to try and weed out the bad ones. Avoid if possible Section 8 as some have posted horror stories about being unable to evict Section 8 tenants and their trashing of the rental unit.
Make sure to have a lawyer on hand to review the lease/contract prior to having the tenant sign the lease/contract. There are a variety of CT laws a landlord has to follow so its good to go through them with your lawyer ahead to time so you know what you can and cannot do. Make sure to get a good tax preparer or CPA who's familiar with rental properties to avoid any screw-ups with taxes. Supposedly you can also get a form of insurance that helps cover any issues or damage to the rental unit as well. The following link has a bunch of information from the state (laws and the like) on the rights and responsibilities of both the tenant and landlord.
Connecticut Law About Landlord/Tenant Law
Edit to add: Also keep in mind that as the landlord you are responsible for certain upkeep of the property. In some towns, like New Haven, there is a pile of local laws the landlord has to follow including having the town inspect each rental unit every two years and pay a fee to the town for each rental unit. These local rules and laws often specify that each rental unit has to have a certain number of working smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, working/unobstructed fire escapes, be repainted after five years or when the tenant leaves, having certain types of locks on doors, etc. Certain towns will assess fines if sidewalks are not cleaned of snow during the winter.
If you do allow the tenant to have pets, expect to have to do major cleanup and removal of carpet's if they ever leave. Same goes for having tenants who smoke.