Clear signs of cooling rents, vacancy upticks, investors vacating the space, foreclosures, capital calls are major indicators of this happening nationwide.

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

I have no first-hand experience, but I just signed a contract to start using them.

When you say you are looking at different properties for the best deal, you are signing up for a year of analysis paralysis and lack of focus.

Think about all the what ifs before you sign anything. 

My sister co-signed for me on a primary in 2019. 

Additionally newer investors often don't have any idea what to do once they have a signed contract and we walk them through that process. 

But this same tenant may have done it to a previous landlord, and much like you ---didn't pursue them-- and that's why you were willing to sign them as a tenant. 

Which leads me to believe there may have been early warning signs they just didn't report.

Essentially, the buyer wants to pay my equity out of the property at lease signing then have a option to buy the property after 3 years.