For me personally, our STR and our little inn provide more than half my family's income so I feel I have a fiduciary duty to my wife and kids to maximize that. 

Their pro formas felt optimistic with providing 6% annual appreciation and property management that is only about 6% of rent so I take it with a grain of salt (they offer their own property management services but it has terrible reviews on Yelp so I would probably go with someone else). 

Happy to provide more info or photos.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it.We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

We even did a mid-year check in meeting in person but felt like he did not provide us any guidance.

For smaller investment amounts, we often see investors providing private loans or notes to other investors for their projects, which can offer attractive returns with the right due diligence.

Again, this is only based on info you provided so there could be a lot more to the story for the good or bad but I can only comment on what was provided. not sure many are thinking rates are going to drop much in the next year.. seems like one would want to know how much they need to drop to see if the plan will work before putting good money after bad.

It's important to keep in mind that everyone you hire is providing you a service - no one is guaranteeing you any outcome.

Happy to provide insight or whatever. 

With investment properties, most lenders I work with prefer to have an address to work with in order to provide a "soft" quote, which does not include a hit to your credit.