Urgent help in Tenant screening as a newbie Landlord

[Kristine O.]

Hello rockstars! Especially to landlords. This is the first time that we are renting out to someone for midterm rental. My prospect tenant just completed his application form/background check thru avail.co. Can i ask for personal reference and professional reference like coworkers no.? He's a retired military in his 40s. He has 9 month work gap in 2022. And in 2023 up to present he does not have employment but just accepted at a military or base near where we live. He even sent his 2 previous pay stubs from 2022 and an acceptance letter from his current military employer. What else can i ask just to prevent potential issues with a tenant. This is a big deal since we live in the same lot with my family and I'm renting out my ADU. Its just so many horror stories out there dealing with bad tenants that it's making me nervous although I need this rental to help pay for mortgage.