They both work for the same company, so there is some risk in the future if the company has layoffs, but that's life for any employee/tenant.So definitely get the last month's rent if there's any doubt.

Know your market, know what a house is worth in the area you are looking in, know the trends in both price and rent for the area.I work primarily in 3 zip codes, I know those areas well (but know of parts of those I won't invest in),,you should know whats going on with the schools, any development planned in the area employment opportunities or potential layoffs,,knowing the area (and of course the knowledge you get from biggerpockets) will help keep you from making a mistake.I look in other areas from time to time, but when I do I have to do a lot more due diligence

Job layoffs in the area, foreclosures, run down properties, crime, etc.

My market has always been bad compared to, but with recent factory worker buy outs and layoff's, a ton of homes have been given to the banks.

Lay off the TV, radio, podcast shows, forums for a while and work on your financial plans.  

I ended up in the lay off world (prior to jumping into real estate head first) and I lost my house.

We had several rounds of layoffs there and each one was tougher than the last.

Life has thrown us some challenges in the last five years, with layoffs being the #1 challenge.

We were in the 5th and 6th round of layoffs.

I like it better for lower crime vs Bake generally and those 200,000 aerospace layoffs are a thing of the past.