Simply put the risk of a non-renewal costs more.

An appraiser or local real estate agent can help with this.

i'd pick a market close by, or that you have a personal connection to, or that you visit often.chasing cash flow by itself can lead to negative outcomes - for example, these investors bought in supposed "cash flow" markets:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...hope this helps.

My lease requires professional carpet cleaning, which would cost more than $500 for a home of that size.Yes, it's reasonable to reduce the cost because she was such a long-term tenant.

There are many markets that fit this description.

I know one person that did this recently and was able to negotiate no money down and 12% over 5 years but this was probably in the mid west.

It is going to be near impossible to cash flow on a property with 100% financing, especially if that partners rates are above conventional rates.

They either don't understand your laws or they don't have good policies in place.

They aren't doing it to help syndicate investors.I don't know anything about this deal other than what I've read here, so take everything I say with a grain of salt...but this plan appears to kick the can for a year. 

That is not uncommon, BUT asking the seller to do that likely means paying a bit more for the property.