I.e. verify that the tenant has been paying on time, do a background check to see if the tenant has a criminal history and verify that they have good credit.  

I don't mean to be rude about it, but if you're an Art History major, or something that you just won't be able to translate into a job, you should really think about it.Another thought, having a W-2 job makes getting loans for buying houses a LOT easier than in you don't have W-2 work.

Rental history always trumps in our units.

In a nice way, let the tenant know his credit history with you can help him re-establish credit for a mortgage later on.

Just make sure you're not in an area where there are income limits because not all of Long Beach is in a "no income limit," area and usually the no income limit areas are usually rougher like around cherry 7th, the northside of Long beach near paramount, bellflower, compton, or the west side of LB under the 405.The main areas with income limits of 90k are bixby knolls, belmont shores area and coastal areas of downtown which are more affluent, the signal hill area, and eastern LB near the Cal state LB.

I lived in Spokane when I was in college, I went to Eastern Washington University.

We are looking for a meet up in our area.Currently I can only meet on the weekends because my job has me working on the roads all over the eastern side of the state.I look forward to meeting you all.

When ever I saw a house that looked brand new updated, I looked further into the sales history; often, you'd see that the same home was sold 4 months ago.

This would help the nephew to establish rental history and that could work in his favor.

I plan to visit the area mid month to meet some potential agents and more closely familiarize myself with neighborhoods, and look at some properties.For a brief history, I am in the process of finishing my second house flip in Southern California and am looking to transition into the multi-family sector.