I HIGHLY recommend them. 

I have not, but as a licensed broker I would recommend listing on MLS which will post it to Zillow, Realtor.com etc. 

The best way to get through the door with subs is a recommendation/connection from someone they respect.

If NY is where you decide to be I would strongly recommend connecting with @Mohammed Rahman he is who I would use. 

If you are looking to house hack in our local neck of the woods, I recommend reaching out to @Josh Green.

He browsed through the lease and recommended to use the 60 day notice clause in the lease to send a lease termination notice.

I would highly recommend talking to Jeff Weller at Coast 2 Coast and Fernando Corona both are also PadSplit hosts but we're some of the first expert lenders .

Any specific neighborhoods you recommend looking into—or areas to avoid?

If you are a beginner I would recommend staying on platform.I get more scam attempts on VRBO, a lot of people offering to pay by company check. 

Treat this property as a business and factor in all the associated expenses, including mortgage payments (if you pull a loan), maintenance, and potential vacancy periods.To simplify management and make this less of a hands-on job, I’d strongly recommend working with a property management company.