Truthfully, I don’t see a lot down here from wholesalers that I work with that fits my criteria and when I lend, its usually different assets than what might be expected to be common at REIAs.  

My response to their question is always truthful: We manage this place professionally with credit checks and employment verification.

The amount of truth and information in this post was great!

Also, I want to know whether a contractor is telling me the truth.

I think the people concerned about being scammed, have either been scammed previously, have trust issues, or just realize that its a dog eat dog world... the majority of people in this world only want to benefit themselves (that's just the truth).

I want the truth. 

The truth is most people with great credit, strong income, etc, aren't renters...or won't be for long.

I pick a geothermal as opposed to the mini-split Charlie mentioned because you would not need to augment the system with oil or gas since they have the power to heat at sub zero temperatures. 

That is so far from the truth.

I don't see any truth to your statement about the area getting worse.