@Fareen E. as long as you don't violate Fair Housing and are CONSISTENT, you can do whatever.If you require an ID from EVERYONE, you are safe.

New Jersey’s Anti-Eviction Act does not require any written notice for non-payment of rent.

It sucks but that's what is required when you own property.

Wait until it's close to the end of his lease (know what the law requires) and then give him notice that you will not renew.

Germantown has better cash flow potential but may require more hands-on management.

Low cash flow requires larger reserves.  

To intentionally reduce the leverage more than required is a foreign concept to me especially in the San Diego market.  

Permit eligibility is based on region (usually the west side of town) and density (quantity of surrounding STR's in the area) as well as percentage of landscaping and minimum parking requirements. 

Credit is a factor as bad credit may limit options, or may have the lender require you to put 10 or 20 years of taxes and insurance into escrow. 

Now many escrows will require that the seller sign off on the EMD release, which can be frustrating since most contracts say it should be a unilateral function (buyer automatically gets their EMD back if they cancel within the option period), but if a seller chooses to be a jerk and not sign it, the EMD could be frozen in escrow, so don't use your rent money for it.