I would look for: Tenant must earn 3x what the monthly rent will beHave good references from employers/previous landlordsNo evictions, clean background check, no broken leases or judgementsThey give employer/job information, proof of a paycheckUse your gut in terms of their appearance, attitude, how clean their vehicle looks, punctuality, how they are dressed

If you see any posts that tickle your fancy I recommend you check out their websit/blog.

You may need to convince them that you have a business.I find that if I drive up in my truck, am dressed like someone in the trade, and walk up to the counter with my request, that I will get contractor prices.

I'm also bit hesitant to buy a multi-family properties right now, since we have so many fancy new apartment buildings built and being built around my neighbourhood.

The big boys on here deal with lots of money, lots of numbers, and have some pretty fancy data analysis tools for what they do.  

You want to stress the bones and curves of the property and its potential, not the dress it's wearing.  

I can add a modest bathroom (nothing fancy, but functional and respectable) with a shower off the back of the house to bring it to a 3/2.I think that would help attract more tenants and raise rents. 

Did you just run a regular ad on craiglsit or did you make something fancy?

This gives you the peace of mind of knowing that you can take out (fancy speak for refinance out of) that construction first lien/loan upon finishing your work on the property.Some local lenders here in WA and in many other states can even do whats commonly referred to as a two step loan where they combine a construction rehab first loan + a take out permanent loan (usually a conventional loan or in house portfolio permanent loan).This product gives you all of the assurance I mentioned above into one product.In areas where you can't get a two step type of product you can get a HML to team up with a conventional lender to jerry rig a similar two step product but this would be with a HML construction loan initially (pro's and con's).

I don't fancy myself as any type of construction expert.