My contribution to the thread was a post that indicated that there are under educated RE investors in virtually every market making what appear to be questionable purchases.There are threads like Stupid things perspective tenants say. 

Property laws are for tenants who have not indicated they have moved out, but you have not seen or heard from them.

The one thing we can be certain of is that the past is not an indication of the future. 

A city representative told me that the property may be "grandfathered" for short-term rentals (less than 3 months) since their records indicate that the previous owners did things on a month-to-month basis.

The percent rule might be 1%A super high dividend stock might indicate the price is going down and the dividend is about to get cut. 

We are usually looking for help rather than just a deal so you need to write copy in your adverts that indicates this.

However, the lender must verify the borrower’s employment for the most recent two full years, and the borrower mustexplain any gaps in employment that span one or more months, and indicate if he/she was in school or the military during the most recent two full years, providing evidence supporting this claim, such as college transcripts, or discharge papers. 

This is a good indication that he wants to stay long term, but you must be careful not to set the precedent that he can do this without going through you.

I hope that's not an indicator of things to come. 

Higher amounts of earnest money indicate a more serious buyer.Just make sure if you do agree to $1000 that you have the money held by the closing company or some other third party to protect yourself.