A professional trustee such as Exeter Trust Company is the way to go if you want it done right, imo. 

Readers should seek professional advice.

Quote from @Josh Holley: I will also never purchase another property from you again after this interaction and your lack of professionalism.

In addition to my real estate expertise, I’ve spent years building and collaborating with property management companies.

I’ve been researching local professionals and would welcome any advice on how to vet and connect with reliable team members, particularly in a high-cost area like the Bay Area.As for hard money, I haven’t explored it in depth yet, but I’m open to the idea for the right deal.

Since you're investing from a distance, I recommend interviewing multiple agents, lenders, property managers, contractors, and other professionals to build a strong and reliable team.

While I don't do this professionally, I have a software team that works for me overseas for my real estate business needs.

As a professional property manager, I'm coming across an interesting trend related to institutions providing financial assistance for tenants who have trouble paying their security deposit and I would love to hear feedback from the BP community.Large PM companies have begun partnering with financial institutions, such as Rhino Insurance, to help tenants who struggle with paying their security deposit.

If a residential contractor can take the AIA system, paired with the commercial professionalism and apply it to their residential business, I can't imagine how they wouldn't be successful. 

I would say that most contractors would be good to collaborate with on scope of work decisions but many/most would not be ideal driving that bus on their own.Exactly.