The title company will make sure the title is clean.

I won't ever close on another OOS property without walking it first but that involves paying for lots of flights and hotel/rental car costs if flying out there to make an offers but the $1500 to $3000 would be worth the cost to me to save on future headaches. 

And treat this as 1/5th space as a rental.Or down the road, would it be better to have the entire property (home & garage/room) rented out to everyone involved and the property become an investment property. 

I suspect this would happen if various parties were given the ability to ask questions in nearly every application for what this thread touches on - and I have major concerns about integrity (and credibility) issues involved in putting yourself in a position to defend this position if ever challenged. 

In the example below, it shows my "Vrbo commission" is 5% and their "payment processing fee" is 3%, so they take a total of 8% (of the nightly rate + cleaning fee + pet fee). 

By the way, the tenant should be charged for this as part of "cleaning and repairs." 

Getting multiple contractors involved will be your best bet to get a reliable estimate, though you need to come up with a scope of work.

Why type of price point are you looking, what anticipated ROI/cash flow, how much time do you want to be involved in, what is your risk threshold, how long do you plan to hold the property, are you looking to invest locally or open to exploring other markets, etc.? 

It involves investing in strong growth markets, diversifying, and buying distressed properties.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.