Then set them up with an automatic rent increase of 3% per year to ensure they don't fall too far behind.

He's a perfect tenant, taking ownership of the property to ensure he has a good place to live.

Great, I'll interview a couple more property mgmt companies and ensure they can justify their fees and charges.

Getting blindsided and having to pivot to hold the deal together will certainly show you where to look to ensure your funding is secured.

@Matthew Irish-Jones thanks for the information, I definitely am going to be improving my screening process in the coming weeks to ensure my time is not wasted on the 75% of people who are not truly serious potential tenants.

He said it was miserable but at least he was in a position to ensure that the HOA didn't pass crazy regulations that would negatively impact his investments.My two cents, if it is a condo in a high appreciation area with excellent positive cash flow the reward may be worth the risk.

What are the good steps (checklist) to ensure there are no co-mingling and avoid piercing the corporate veil? 

Then you can make sure your high-end landscaping is kept nice the whole time and it also ensures someone is visiting regularly to make sure it's getting watered properly.

A goal in my communities is to ensure the landlord actually sees the condition of the property on the inside. 

In addition to a CPA, you should loop in an attorney when discussing entity structuring to ensure all bases are covered.From a tax standpoint, LLCs don't have an effect - positive or negative - on your tax liability.