I have one on the opposite end of the country that is a year into the lease. I'm on the east coast. So far no issues yet but you really don't know what you have in terms of a property manager until issues come up and you see how they handle it. I will say my property manager found a tenant very very fast and she was attentive to the aspect of getting it rental ready. Photos of repairs that were made before renting it out were sent quickly. Listing photos were on point. Now I have two other property managers in other states that have recently got tenants signed on and really the jury is still out. One thing I am trying to do is ensure that whoever is managing the properties is also a realtor. I feel that that may act as a carrot where if I needed to sell a property, they would be the listing agent. On the flip, if I needed to buy, they would be the go to agent/rep. If there's any funny business, that carrot is pulled and a new property manager is found but you would think the notion of getting commission off a purchase/sale would be enough to deter a PM from taking advantage of you as an out of state investor. We'll see.
I'd also say, have some contacts on hand for different issues that may come up i.e. drywall, HVAC, plumbing. It's easier to do with Google. Keep the PM in check by not strictly relying on their contacts.
Also, don't be opposed to flying out and checking on properties at the end of a lease. Don't even tell the pm. Just show up, walk through the property and make note of any issues or damage. Treat it like a vacation/business trip. While you're there, drive into surrounding towns and neighborhoods to scope out for future reference.
If after awhile, you can ascertain you have a trustworthy PM and that your market fundamentals in that area continue to be good, you can feel good about adding to your position by buying another property in that area.
