Newbie in Beautiful Clemson, SC!!!

[Ashby Tyler Cappelmann]

Hey everyone! My name is Ashby Cappelmann and I'm currently in the education/financial preparation phase of my real estate investment career. My wife is active duty military and is leaving the military in 2020. Once she separates we are moving back to my roots in Clemson, SC. The time between now and then will complete immersion in preparing myself educationally and getting as much cash together as possible. My plan is to capitalize on the Clemson University student rental market. My biggest question at this point is how to ensure that I pick the right property management company. I plan on being a hands off investor with 0 property management involvement. Having made that decision I begun researching property management companies in the area. There are between 5-6 that serve the area I plan on being in but there are some serious red flags. The first few on google reviews average a 1-2 star rating. After reviewing the ratings most of the horrible comments are from tenants and not landlords but I want to confirm with other current landlords that bad is bad. My philosophy on this is that if these tenants feel mistreated then so will mine most likely? The other management companies that serve my areas are a bit smaller or newer and don't have any reviews. I have a list of about 10-12 questions for the interview I plan on conducting with each but I wanted to see if anyone has any experience in the student rental/property management market and more importantly if there is any one thing(s) that a student rental property management company MUST have or MUST do to successfully manage your property? Thanks in advance and I look forward to meeting everyone!