Luckily I still have my regular bank account and I don't keep all my funds in baselane or I would have been in a serious bind. 

Keep in mind that most residential mortgages are conforming loans that are resold on the secondary market and bundled into mortgage backed securities.

There's also the possibility of becoming the squeaky wheel by calling the police (*not* security) to report the matter.

What are the best practices for quickly securing reliable tenants and ensuring positive cash flow, especially for someone new to this?

Because of the lease, an MTR operator will often pay first month's rent, security deposit, pet deposit, last month's rent, and even lease application fees.

@Jorge Liang I have regular exterior pest control at several of my properties.

Regular Conventional? 

It just runs and runs with regular cleaning with cleaning descaler tablets 2x a year.

We key each room separately, so the members have security.  

Funny enough, the house I made an offer on before the one I closed on I did go through multiple inspections: electrical, plumbing, and regular inspection and I ended up walking away from that one.