I would do all of those prior to giving up 50% upside on a physical RE investment to someone who has little risk, and is offering their time.

Regardless, you might find the copy & paste info below helpful:)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Poor communicators, poor housekeeping skills, prescription med abuse, big dogs that they couldn't properly care for, damaging, etc.

Just so you know you can use a USPS PO Box as a physical street address now and receive UPS and Fedex there also. https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?

Does anyone have a template or method that they use in order to screen tenants effectively in order to reduce the risk of non payment and damage to the property? 

Petersburg for over 30 years, I can attest that the last two big hurricanes caused significant damage, but they were the first in a long time.Condos and townhomes tend to perform well, especially if they're located on the Intracoastal Waterway or within 3-5 miles of the beaches.

This will cost money to maintain, cost money to manage leasers, subject you to the will of tenants/leasers should they damage something, should someone get injured, your money will be gone (for now), subject you to the will of the market, interest rates, potential market volatilities.. you will need a lawyer at that amount for sure and a good CPA. 

When the tenant moves out and the funds are distributed either to the tenant or the landlord for damages, then the subaccount for that specific tenant has a zero balance and that subaccount is closed. 

They will cover your damages only.

When there is a sum of money in the bank, I’d rather buy another property than pay for fire damage, and I’m happier with the insurance coverage.