The seller told the tenant I'm an insurance agent so not to reveal the potential sale.

AND with STRs you have no risk of evictions (which can get to be real expensive depending on the area)  and most damages that guests do are covered by insurance (either through the rental platform it was booked through or sometimes the property management firm has added insurance too).As someone that build a large long term rental portfolio here in Illinois (I still have 40+ houses here) and somebody now building a portfolio in tennessee, I would definitely recommend looking at new construction in some of these str areas. 

Verify they are licensed and insured.

What does Baltimore offer , it has rental inspections , highest property taxes in the state , worst schools in the state , high crime rates , higher insurance rates , longer time to evict tenants , slower appreciation .

And anyone that sells you life insurance.

On top of that, you’ll want to budget for ongoing expenses like property taxes, insurance, operational costs (such as utilities and property management), and maintenance.

My list includes - last 2 years employment history and current employment [2 paystubs], criminal checks, eviction checks, No Pets, No smoking, tenant pays utilities, maintains landscape, no subleasing, bring own washer & dryer, 1 month security deposit and transfer of utilities before moving in, rental insurance, all occupants will be on lease, notice period of 2 months for termination, tenant references, No cosigners, no painting walls, late fee notice, any hoa fines should be paid by tenant, inspection of property at 3, 9 and 12 months.Please let me know if I am missing anything.3.

In addition to that property taxes have increased and property insurance has significantly increased.

We are looking to switch our insurance policies for our rental portfolio.

If you want to minimize risk and capitalize on investment with passive income and stable cash flow this is the rental property strategy that is most advantageous and works best in Detroit.