Besides real estate investing we are passionate about family, small farming, growing healthy foods, and building community.

Consider all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.5.

They're fine paying an extra deposit and extra pet fee.

Payroll was significantly higher, entertainment costs, food, utilities...everything was pretty much under budgeted.

People sign leases stating that they agree to no pet policies all the time, yet, they still bring them in.

The “headline” CPI (Consumer Price Index = inflation) for June declined 0.1% month-over-month, and the “core” CPI (excluding food & fuel) rose only 0.1% MoM.

Don't have all your food on the same plate-- meaning same agent, same PM group, same contractor, same inspector.

It also gives us a chance to see whether they have any pets that weren't disclosed in the lease - pretty common actually.

My only contribution as possible food for thought for you is to ask whether you have the ability to move to a less expensive area and house hack there? 

My best advice would be to calculate how much you would need to spend on food and determine how that number relates to the amount of rent you are paying.