Tom, thank you so much, that is a super comprehensive explanation, it helps me out a lot.

Excel makes the most sense unless you can find a free tool; with that said my wife and I own Tenant Watch which offers background checking solutions / tools for landlords to enable them to pull the most comprehensive background checks on your potential applicants.  

It is a comprehensive book and you can find it online.

The SABOR MLS does have a pretty comprehensive search function for non-agents.  

Because pretender investors with little to negative knowledge about real estate and no comprehension about money other than it can be traded for stuff at Walmart have this false belief that they can make massive income with no credit, no money, no marketing knowledge, no contractual knowledge, no negotiation or as apparent in this thread no people skills, no understanding of the tools needed to comp houses, no estimation skills and no appraisal skills.

. :) It starts with having a good and comprehensive rental agreement in place.

Actually, I have a comprehensive lease agreement which include early termination and deduction from early termination. 

It is quite comprehensive and gives you an "in the trenches" perspective. 

@Shane CraigFirst and foremost run a comprehensive background check on a tenant.

Aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications -- pulled reports from TransUnion, which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time).