Looking at a potential real estate investment and I have all the cash flows (after debt service) and anything else I would need I am just lost on a couple of things I am being asked for...

With it being later in the year, I didn't have as many applicants as I liked, and ended up dropping the rent to $825, but increased the length so that they end in springtime.  

I just had a property turn over and followed this procedure for the showings:I advertise the property and handle all calls, emails, texts on it and set up viewing appointments (I group them all within 30-45 minutes on one day)The current tenants show the property to prospective rentersWhen someone applies, they email or fax in the application and pay the application fee via PayPal (although I am now trying out Cozy for applications) and I process the applicationIf the application passes, I prepare and email over the lease for signatureWhen the lease is signed and sent back to me, I send over a payment request for the first month's rent (via Dwolla or Cozy)At the check-in, I drive to the property to check them in myself and collect the security deposit in secured funds (or use Cozy to collect it beforehand)I have been doing the above for a long time and it has worked pretty well.

The other one that fell through had a judgement filed against the homeowner right after we did the quit claim with the mortgagor and were about to close and redeem the property from the person that bought it at the sheriff sale.That judgement terminated the mortgagor's (and therefore our) ability to redeem that property.The response rate on our marketing campaigns has been extremely low; south of 1%, in fact.Our campaigns include door knocking, leaving notes on doors, as well as mailing the property and new addresses of the owners (when applicable).  

If he is legit, then he shouldnt need anything from you up front (maybe a small $100 application fee at most)Use an escrow service.  

I haven't read the article so don't know if its applicable to your situation but thought it might be of interest to you Los Angeles moves to regular Airbnb rentalshttp://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-airbnb...

The bureaus will allow payment services to report though so here is a link for the ones that currently report to Experian:https://www.experian.com/rentbureau/rental-reporti...I have heard of Rental Kharma that charges a fee to report just your payment but that doesn't include any payment processing.  

I know you can't tell an applicant that, but can you tell an existing tenant that or is that discrimination as well?  

As a Realtor I have certain minimum services I need to perform on behalf of my client and one of those is presenting all offers in a timely manner.

I agree with what everybody has said so far, I would also add offer concierge services that you can charge extra for.