That's really going to be a waste of your time.What I do is ask for 6 months of Bank Statements where the rent was paid so I can see if the rent was paid on time.Basically, if they can't give me proof they paid their rent on time, I go on to the next candidate.If you even get a few checks, you can see who got paid if you really want to call the current landlord.However, doing the employment, tenant credit, eviction and background checks along with having them providing Bank Statements corroborates their story of being good, prompt paying tenants.BTW, I'm a NYC Broker/Landlord.... it is REALLY important I don't put in a bad tenant.

Ducks cash flowers have to be in bad Waipahu,  bad Kalihi, Nanakuli, or Waianae. 

It's good that your narrowed down your focus and now you need to narrow down your market.You've already had some great advice on this thread but before you get lost in the "weeds" and all the details, which isn't bad, I would suggest you attend some local REI meetups in your area.

Most tenants are fairly good but when you get a bad one in Ontario they can very easily bankrupt any landlord with the full support and assistance of our government.If you have a choice I would advise not investing at all over selecting Ontario.

A Bad option is to use TK. 

Would it be better to go for a lower end home and use a 203k loan to rehab and finance or get one that's not as bad off and start there?

And you should be able to get a 30 year due in 3, 5, or even ten years.Good that you don’t pull the trigger on the bad deal out of frustration.

I hear NJ has some bad squatter laws.

@Steven J Mooney I'm personally okay with buying a property that is a "bad" deal when I close as long as I am confident that I can turn it into a good or great one.

It's sometimes hard for an agent to find what you want if you just give them the general criteria of "between $50k-$100k in a C or B neighborhood"Look at Crime data on Trulia to see where the good and bad neighborhoods are.