STR in St. Augustine - We live in San Diego

[Jessica Muto]

Hello!

We were pretty excited to wake up at 5 am on Christmas Eve to an accepted offer on a cute little house in St. Augustine. We live in San Diego and have long term rentals in the mountains nearby and in Arizona, but haven't ever done the STR thing. As we proceed in escrow, I am doing my research on income and costs associated with a STR that is literally as far away from us as possible. We are purchasing here because we want to stay there as well and may move there at some point if CA becomes too terrible.

My question for you all out of state STR investors: How do you manage your rentals? If you use a company, what extra things do they charge you for? If you have properties in St. Augustine and have either a cleaning/guest handling team or a "soup to nuts" management company, who do you like? I have interviewed 5 so far with a few more calls to make tomorrow. Most seem to charge around 20% with various things added in like linen service, remote key service, AC maintenance, etc.

What are the absolute MUST questions I should be asking? 

Finally, is it possible to manage myself from California??? I already own and run a plumbing company here full time, am a personal trainer, and oversee our other properties (oversee the management companies.) 

Thanks in advance for all your help!

-Jessica