Self-managing rentals from out of state

[Grace A.]

Landlords who self-manage rentals in a different state. How do you this? What systems do you use to oversee the listing, showing, and managing repairs, inspections etc.? How do you mitigate the risks of not being close by if anything happens?
I’ve read landlording on autopilot and out of town landlord but I’d like to hear from people who actually do this, how you do it and any pitfalls to watch out for. 
Thank you 

[Doug Spence]

@Grace A. I self-manage one of my properties (SFH in Pensacola). I use zillow to list the property and screen tenants (min 650 credit score, clean background check, must make 4x the monthly rent, income verification, and I need references for past landlords).

For any maintenance issues I just call a local company to fix whatever it is. For example, when the dishwasher was having issues, I paid an appliance repair company to check it out, they said it would cost more to repair than a new one, so I bought a new one on home depot, paid to have it delivered, and coordinated the delivery/installation time with the tenant. I paid for the dishwasher online. 

The absolute most important part of self-managing a property is making sure you have exceptional tenants. They can make your life very easy or very difficult, and if you are self-managing from out of state (like me) you need tenants that will make your life easy. 

Best of luck and let me know if you have more questions.