If the applicant comes from the pool of people that I or my tenants know, I use real estate as a way to give back as many of my tenants will not qualify credit wise or may even have a criminal background or would struggle for another reason if I were to just stick to the "background/credit check" criteria. 

Most lenders won't require an application fee and should be able to clearly lay out their financing costs, cash to close, and projected profitability for you.I hope this helps.

I suppose I'll just wait until I find a good applicant and be grateful I won't have a vacancy this time next year. 

During the escrow/title process, you are finalizing loan documents, reviewing title documents (HOA disclosures if applicable, title reports, etc), obtaining homeowner's insurance, and preparing to wire your funds to title. 

Not that it cant or wont, but unlikely.If OP applies for homestead on a new property, then I personally would not lie during the application about receiving the exemption on the existing property.

But, with a strong application process, we don’t have many evictions.  

Is your DSCR ratio greater than 1-meaning are you cash flowing (according to the lender's criteria of mortgage, property taxes and insurance (and HOA) if applicable).

When they realized that it was held in an LLC they denied my application.

Navigating the Surge in Rental Application Fraud: A Guide for Landlords and Property ManagersIn recent years, the rental market has experienced a troubling rise in application fraud.

@Zach Howard you pretty much MUST hold it in an LLC if you don't have the proper visa or greencard.1) Many attorneys over-hype the benefits of an LLC for each property.