Thanks for the heads up, I’ll call the mortgage companies.  

It creates far more visibility into the company's operations, their investment decisions, etc.And lastly, you get to the overall ability of the sponsors.  

You should only need the SSN or license if you are hiring a collections company.

Starting the pre-approval process and it's been easy so far, but I do like to hear from people who have used a company before.

The macroeconomics are blowing up and going parabolic - population growth, job growth, and companies moving and developing here.

Once the ex-tenant/ employee quit working, the company stopped sending the garnishment checks.

Do you hire a title company for all the properties you're interested in before the auction?

If you're not conducting the work yourself, contract with reputable and competent companies.

More big name companies will join the STR industry and hosts who are not exceeding expectation will be weeded out by their money power.

.)- Average days on market- Absorption rate- Historical data on rents and sale prices in the area- Population growth- Main economic drivers (industries, individual companies, etc.)- Crime stats... if you know specific zip codes/submarkets that you'd like to target, the best data will come from local precincts. - and more..I'd recommend remaining active not only here on BiggerPockets, but in other valuable RE investment networks that you can find - i.e. local meetups (meetup.com, eventbrite, BP local events).