I think that his backing out may have to do with anxiety. 

I think the major management software solutions handle this as a recurring charge.

Books that have helped calm my initial anxiety about purchasing an asset that I cannot physically see on a daily basis and have helped me narrow down my top markets have been David Greene's Long-Distance Real Estate Investing & David Lindahl's Emerging Real Estate Markets.

Get their email and create a recurring monthly event “Rent is due” that shows as an alert on their phone every 1st of the month

@Justin Polston not reimbursing me for paid utilities for tenant, slack communication (last communication spanned 12 days and then only responded because I copied a bunch of people in the office and noted that it's been 12 days without a response), lots of small assurances that fail to deliver (ie - I was charged errantly for landscaping I never requested, someone likely erred in my file making it recurring, they never reimbursed me, but promised to "take care of it" multiple times).I am definitely not a high maintenance type, and have been very patient, they seem to be less than attentive.

I would be totally dependent on my contractor for the entire renovation and that creates anxiety for me.

Hello anxiety and cold feet.

If you have test anxiety, take a lot of practice exams when you've completed all your course work.  

I know a lot of fear and anxiety will go away after that first deal is made and buying the second will be twice as easy.

It really all depends on whether or not you willing to bank on placement fees or want a stronger recurring revenue stream to fund your business.