My preference is to renew as per contract or that they would reveal the minimum commitment they are able to make, and we’ll write up a short term lease at a higher price - flexibility and stressing out the landlord should come at a cost.

Credit check revealed excellent credit scores, but also an incredibly high debt-income ratio; otherwise, no delinquencies or criminal background.

We change the contingency to say that WE will pay to obtain the c of o unless the inspection for it reveals over $4,000 worth of deficiencies.

Revealing other offers weakens my seller's position not only for the reason you outlined, but also because it lessens the chance to stoke a bidding war.

It may reveal a monster, it may not. 

You haven't revealed anything that would alarm a seller at this point.Get a redacted set of financials to share with qualified individuals.Have an NDA ready to go.No showings or deep due diligence without an LOI and earnest.Locate COIs (centers of influence) rather than marketing to the masses. 

You always buy subject to other possible liens that only a proper title search would reveal. 

What would cause a background check to not reveal felonies?

However, a full credit report will usually reveal those addresses.Lastly, here's some more information on questions to ask previous landlords: Top 10 Questions to Ask a Past Landlord When Screening Applicants.

And if you didn't have someone you could trust to do the management in either place you probably still would have lost money.So, if I were you, I would pick several markets with good job and population growth and begin to research them and talk to the realtors and property managers in the area.One of them will likely reveal itself to you to be the right place for you.But definitely don't listen to a bunch of yahoos online :)