Signs of this are poor lease quality, maybe M2M tenants, high expenses (unnecessary things like high trash bills, internet, cleaning, security).

I am a contractor, and I would say, No. if they have no material or significant equipment costs, an upfront payment is unnecessary.

My thought is is use the Rent Ready feature of reporting his payment history to the credit bureau so it can work in his favor as a trade line, but I'm wondering if this is an unnecessary added step since he can already pull transactions on his bank side. 

When I go through with this strategy in the future, I will be doing a thorough vetting process to try and avoid unnecessary headaches.

Plus, Zillow, Rentler and the other real estate platforms tend to have all sorts of unnecessary hoops to jump through for landlords, and I find a lot of their design very un-intuitive (I remember spending waaayyy too much time just trying to figure out simple things in Rentler).  ...why can't they make it easier?

I think I could address more, but it's unnecessary.

Be honest in the listing so you wont get unnecessary inquiries.  

This sentence, for example, seems completely unnecessary: "Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

It's not a scam per se, but it's unnecessary and is designed for people who don't have the financial discipline to apply their excess cashflow to debt paydown.

Ensure your investment pipeline justifies the fees, and consult the custodian about rollover options to avoid unnecessary expenses if investments slow.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.