Cheers,Dan  Dan, investing OOS is like drilling for oil off-shore vs on land: everything is harder, you need different tools and skills, and everything costs more.

If you really don't value your agent's ability and think you can do it better, it's likely best that you 1) interview more to find one that you do trust, 2) go through the listing agent, directly, if you're that comfortable with handling your side on your own, or 3) maybe get your license so you can control your side of negotiations with the proper tools needed (MLS access with agent info, showings, contracts, tax records, uploaded listing docs like surveys, disclosures, broker assistance for questions, etc.).

Should I send a notice out to my current tenants that their rent would be raised to $1400/m effective Nov/Dec 1st and if they can’t do it that they would need to leave by then? 

BP has various tools to help you analyze your deals (rentals, flips, wholesale, etc). : https://www.biggerpockets.com/investment-calculators7.

I would disagree with number 2 - in this environment, heavy rate buydowns are a common tool in the toolkit for lenders and borrowers to make deals work and are in no way indicative of "not being well-capitalized"

Conservative debt is a tool to generate higher returns and build wealth.  

For analysis, you need to identify a market that interests you using tools like AirDNA, Mashvisor, Pricelabs, etc. 

BP has various tools to help you analyze your deals (rentals, flips, wholesale, etc). : https://www.biggerpockets.com/investment-calculators7.

Using a service to report rent debts to Credit Bureaus can be very effective at recovering those debts because it can impact their credit report and score for years to come, typically 6-7 years depending on location. 

Section 8 is a tool, not a cure-all.It can be a great program if you screen the tenants well.