Keep rents lower than the going rate and give them an incentive to stay like no pet fees or upgrades to the homes.

All lenders have strengths and weaknesses, staying close to them is the only way to learn what each of those are.

You Pay, You Stay. 

If you have just one unit it's not too hard to keep track of payments, you can do it for free in Excel or Google Sheets, you just have to stay on top of it.

If that carrier doesn't stay afloat it's pretty dismal.

The reason I stayed so long is that every time I was about to take some kind of action, they would suddenly show progress.

They're reputable but I'd be happy to draw up a quote for you to compare side by side.  

They usually require experience and they are lots of docs needed from architect drawings to a lot of permitting. 

For now, staying local allows me to leverage my property management experience—most of which came from working directly for family and close business associates who were property managers, contractors, and business owners.

Smart move. documentation is your best friend :)  Stay safe out there.