Long Distance Landlording - Thoughts?

[Ralph Miller]

When I was in college, I rented a house with my roommate in upstate New York.  My landlord would fly to Florida from the months of November to March to avoid the cold.  I would mail him the rent every month.  If we had problems with the property, I would call/message him and he would call the repairman to fix it.  We never had issues with this process.  I didn't think about the logistics or the boldness of this method when I was a young 22yr old.  But now, as a landlord with several properties, it got me thinking...what if I was a more difficult tenant?  How can you manage a long distance property without a property manager?  So I wanted people's opinions about this.

What are your thoughts about renting your property from long distance without using a property manager?  What would you do if your tenant loses the keys and you're not around to give them a spare?   Do you hire someone to hold a spare key?

What kind of responsibility do we have to our tenants to fix things when they're not home?  

Is there any legal issues with not being near your rental properties without a designated property manager?

What other concerns are there that I haven't addressed (and I know there are many!)?

Thanks!