I am a self employed residential general contractor.

If you’ve got strong tenant demand, proximity to top employers, or even access to public transit, you’re laying a solid foundation.

Your strategy takes advantage of your employment cash flow and ability to control discretionary spending.  

I did all my other due diligence like asking for paystubs, W2s, Tax returns, Employment verification, bank statements etc etc and did not see any red flags overall.

Avoiding the occupants from squatting is best addressed with background checks, employment verifications, and references before signing the lease.

A proper vetting process - background, employment, credit, and reference checks - will weed out 99% of problem tenants. 

I would also look at employment/unemployment statistics, and get a good sense of who the biggest employers are in an area. 

These platforms are affordable and offer comprehensive reports (credit, background, eviction history) without you having to handle sensitive information directly.Verify Employment and Landlord History: Your plan to request pay stubs and a landlord reference is solid.

After a year or two we intend to buy a larger property in the same area and partner with some friends on it but I do believe a boots on the ground person employed only by you is KEY to executing anything if you are not in the country yourself.

For example, population growth, employment rates, rent-to-price ratio, rental demand, etc.