A reliable tenant is someone who stays many years, always pays the rent on schedule, and takes good care of the property.

In addition to comfort and confidence to manage close by and local knowledge.

Which areas make you feel comfortable? 

That's the first step, just start with any small action and keep learning, and stay connected and again highly recommend the local real estate meetings. 

. :-(  We are only staying with the bank because the rate is so advantageous and the terms are as well.

Couple of things I looked out for:- Area, make sure it's somewhere that will have stable demand- I stayed away from homes that had a lot of renovations that were needed- During the tour see if you can spot basic issues like if wiring is old or how new is the HVAC system, etc. - If you decide to keep the tenants that are already there see how well they keep the place

Just have your contractor rent a dumpster and pay for the cost to trash it and dump it and count it against their depositTwo - holdover tenant, which is when they stay past their lease end date.

I have not personally condo house hacked, but I did house hack my first single family home and had a friend stay with me. 

Any particular layout that you recommend or would stay away from (2 story vs 1)3.

Local MLS AccessHaving access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) allows you to stay ahead of new listings and price changes.