Even when we became work optional, we still (wife and I) took on another live in flip, got part time jobs, starting cleaning our STRs ourselves rather than hiring cleaners (we're going to stop doing that this summer).

Readers should seek professional advice.

In addition to tangible screening such as credit checks, evictions, criminal background, & income checks consider intangibles as well - how well do they communicate with you & how professional?

With that being said, in a worst case scenario, you can always hire a property management company to handle the day to day items if it comes to that. 

We have seen that having a professional marketing piece builds credibility which is invaluable in this business. 

You'll probably get better service approaching it that way than hiring a professional manager anyway.  

Being fairly new to land lording I felt the need to gather a bit more insight from other seasoned professional with how to proceed, but you're absolutely right. 

We never hired a manager because it simply would have taken too much out of our profits.

On the other hand, I feel one of the main advantages of passive investments (via syndication/crowdfunding) is that I can hire a manager who has years more experience than I can ever hope to obtain myself.

Always spot on and professional!