Get a great cleaner and handy person.

The ways to help mitigate that is to use automation software which helps drastically reduce the time involved with an STR, setup a good team (cleaner, handyman, plumber, electrician, appliance, hvac person), and have an exit strategy if short-term regulation does come to that area. 

You'll start to hear some of the same names crop up for handymen/cleaners/etc.   

I managed remotely using automation integrations with Mailchimp, Zapier and other home automation systems, but the most important thing is to just make sure you have a great cleaners who will be communicative to you if anything looks off. 

It sounds like they do not owe anything which makes seller financing much cleaner.

I'm looking for a handyman(woman) and a Cleaner in the Blue Ridge/Morganton GA area for our STR.

A professional manager will:1) Limit the risk of lawsuits and risk on tenant safety2) Perform home turns between tenants quicker than you can3) Screen tenants with advanced knowledge on Fair Housing Laws, identity theft, and filtering false references4) Be able to monitor and handle scams5) Provide you with the quickest eviction process if needed6) Have problem solving skills, so that most days you don't even know there was an issue because it resolved with little or no involvement from you.7) Have resources that include eviction attorney, repairs, cleaners, appliance repair, screening companies, mortgage properties, emergency line coverage. 

It would have been much cleaner and safer for them.With that being said; you need to figure out what strategy you want to pursue and then you need to start educating yourself.

Naturally there are established areas that are a little nicer, typically a little cleaner, and from what I can tell appreciation wise aren't growing as fast as the up and coming, typically less clean areas.

Make sure you are all clear on expectations, decisions, and what happens if the project loses money.For this deal specifically, if it's just a one off with this family member, it might be cleaner to let them keep their $10K and just throw them a finders fee.