How long do you wait out a market if there is a decline in rental prices before cutting your losses? 

Please pray for safety & much success.

Edge fund are taking even more outrageous fee each year.

However (I'm an insurance agent not an attorney) the legal wrangling of the PM not taking a necessary action could set up a situation where the insurance carrier pays then subrogates back against the PM company for their inaction so the property manager should also have appropriate general liability coverage for their business.This next part can change by state and insurance carrier...Being named as lienholder or mortgagee can set up the lender being involved on the payout of any damages - say there is a fire the checks cut for damage could name the insured and lender so both parties have to agree how those funds will be used.Some carriers have a rule that if the loss amount is under a certain dollar amount the check is only cut in the owners name / if the loss exceeds a threshold (say $25k) the check is cut in both the owner and mortgagee names.Being named as loss payee is literally that - the check is cut in your name or both the insured and your name. 

You need every competitive edge you can get to have maximum exposure.

To top it off their contractor used a saw to remove their lockbox and cut into my front door badly damaging it in several places, and they will not address that either.

I'm the landlord of a 3-unit building and wanted to know if I should be concerned about any potential plumbing issues (like freezing pipes) or other safety concerns.What steps should I take to protect the building, and are there any other things I should be worried about in this situation?

I recommend focusing on getting a great investment property and disregarding Section 8 in that pursuit because any property can be a Section 8 property, but a lousy investment is lousy regardless of having a Section 8 tenant or not.Section 8 will perform a basic functional and safety inspection for your units after you have an agreement with a Section 8 tenant and your local housing authority.

If it cuts too much into your profits, look elsewhere.

No matter how you cut it, you will get a higher return by doing STR than you would by doing regular rent.