I have a wife and 3 kids and the weight of their futures on my back.

So you have to weight risk to reward.. and sometimes we have to eat one that we bought it happens..

Ask for its breed, weight, and name, and have them attach a picture.- Make the application part of the lease, with the stipulation that if they've lied in the application or in the lease, they can be evicted.- Tell them they have to provide documentation of the animals service / emotional support (as allowed by your local ordinances), and that they have to provide documentation that the animal is current with its inoculations, etc. as well as its local license before you'll permit the animal in the unit.- Tell them they'll have to provide you with a copy of their renter's insurance naming you as additional named insured, with a minimum of (I use $300,000) liability insurance, also before they move into the unit.It's not perfect, but it's a start toward a tenant transparency.

Some items might hold more weight than others, but you guys should sort through that together.You also might just do the partnership deal by deal - sometimes jumping into a partnership before you have officially worked together is NOT the best idea...

For instance, in my private lending, I dont really give a numerical credit score much weight, but I absolutely look at the composition and history of the individual tradelines on a report if the borrower is a smaller outfit, such as a single member LLC or similar solopreneur-type operator.

@Eric Andersen definitely put weight into what @Michael Baum wrote and do your own research on the city regulation/zoning.

@MIchael McCUe   I get it, it feels like an incredible weight that you could easily lift with bankruptcy.

It does however give you a degree of independence to choose what you want to do.As your portfolio grows you'll also feel the weight of future capex responsibility more, which ironically points you to growing more cash flow through more real estate.The other issue is that you are chasing a moving goalpost.

Focus on the big moves: security, renovations, and cutting dead weight. 

Once you've identified what's important and what ratios to look for to evaluate a property, all future deals should be weighted against those "good" ratios/numbers - and periodically adjust to suit your goals.