I’d try my best to be outside the beltway in Baltimore county, generally the nicer areas, I tend to especially like Towson, lutherville, even parkville is a good value. 

I once made the mistake of chasing multiple listings at once, which turned into a disaster.When I shifted my focus to serving one client at a time with honesty, integrity, and accountability, referrals started coming in without any marketing.

But consumers all are on the site for free where real estate agents are constantly hawked to buy leads or participate in what is now a 35-40% referral business for unvetted leads who think they are contacting the listing agent.Their business model has always been flawed.

Vendors who partner with Costco pay for market exposure and referrals, which often adds to the final cost passed on to the customer.

Just curious if you find it makes a difference updating your photos on a somewhat regular basis or tend to leave the STR photos the same once you have somewhat found a sweet spot?

Some areas on Long Island tend to appreciate even more. 

They offer better economies of scale and tend to be more manageable as you grow your portfolio.

Make sure to ask for client referrals and interview more than one company in Flint.

Also:_________________________________________________________________________Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Quote from @Paul Lucenti: Creative methods tend to increase risk.