I'm not a flipper and this will be my primary residence but I should at least put a stake in the ground to be able to evaluate, correct?

Any money, IE: application processing fee,  is not specifically applied to the information requests ordered by the landlord which is why they are generally non-refundable and do not carry any guarantee of any performance other than evaluation of your prospects as a tenant.

I have some questions:What is the best way to evaluate a market for Rent to Own investments?

Investors must separate these impacts and evaluate various types of retail differently.

I'll leave the evaluation of what constitutes a "high appreciation" area to others to debate.  

Over the years of running parks, we have evaluated dozens of these solutions and have engaged with and used several of them.

If they do, you can then fully evaluate their background/situation to understand whether if would be a good fit for the both of you.

Of course we're not looking at rent increases, inflation or net present value (NPV) yet at this simple evaluation the decision would be easy in my humble opinion.   

My thoughts feel scattered as I learn more about everything that's involved with real estate all together.Can I ask where you look for the market evaluation specifically regarding real estate?

I suggest people look at the recently released BP location evaluator spreadsheet.