Progress payments to be made upon your inspection and approval, holding out at least 10% until final inspection and approval of any permits, and 30 days after completion or until unconditional lien releases are submitted for all subs and materials for which preliminary 30 day notices have been filed.In larger time sensitive projects you can also negotiate for of a performance bond which would compensate you for failure to complete the project on time and to the specifications in the contract.Always check the status of the contractors license with your state contractors licensing agency and verify that the guy signing the contract actually is the contractor whose license is being provided.

So they asked me to send a copy of my SSN card and other sensitive information through email to them.

Sacrifice some cash flow to safeguard the value.

I feel like I will be forced to buy and pay myself rent at a higher price because I am more sensitive to location since I will be living there.

We employ pest control services from time to time, and these companies tell us it's best to treat the entire building.Occasionally a tenant will inform us they are sensitive to pesticides and opted out.

I’m looking for suggestions on how to safeguard myself in case their situations deteriorate quickly and I’m out one or both tenants, and ultimately rent money.

What safe guards do I need to put in place for buying outside California.  

They tend to care more about an A plus location then the cost per sq ft in rent as they believe the location will drive higher sales.Regional to mom and pop tenants are more sensitive to being in a high end area but not the most expensive center or corner where they feel they have to drive very high sales to have a chance of being profitable.

This is private and sensitive information...

Your only safeguard is the value of the property which is security for your investment.