Often times they come back with a list of repairs that they would like to see to protect the home or mitigate liability. 90% of the time those items were on our list to fix anyway, and sometimes we even haven't done before we get the letter from the insurance company.

@Greg ReeseMost small investors will benefit by having the LLC created in the state where the property is located at.Creating an LLC in a state like Nevada, Delaware, Wyoming may be better for the big players if items such as charging orders, business friendly case law, anonymity are important to you.However, be mindful that setting up LLC's in those states will add to your costs as you may have increased annual fees for annual LLC fees + registered agent fees.

Don't split the work between multiple contractors if possible, finding one to do all or most of the work will keep prices down.Challenges were finding replacement pieces for certain items as manufactured homes were very different than stick built as well as going through state guidelines for affixing the house to the land

I just go in at the first of every month and code each line item to the corresponding property and note what the expense was for (Repair, HOA Fee, Mortgage payment, etc).

The best place to start is with a spreadsheet that has every every cost itemized. 

Type Line Item Fee Fixed Fee Collected Rents 10% of All Collected Rents New Tenant Search & Onboarding $600 Variable Fees Business Hour Service Calls $90/hour + Materials Cost + Tax After Hour Service Calls $120/hour + Materials Cost + Tax 3rd Party Coordination HVAC Cleaning & InspectionGutter CleaningSpring/Fall Exterior CleanupSeasonal Mowing & Weed TrimmingSeasonal Snow PlowingGeneral Contractor Negotiated Vendor Cost + 10% Oversight Fee  

And addressing my item #1 comment, almost always, when a "distressed" homeowner is approached, they initially are grateful to have the loan brought current, but before long they forget the circumstances they were in and you become the bad guy that stole their house.

Another struggle i have with STR is replacing small items continually which ties back to pricing.

If there are items of value left behind, or even personal items of sentimental value, I will follow the abandonment rules to a "T" to avoid any legal issues.

Line Item Fee Collected Rents 10% of All Collected Rents New Tenant Search & Onboarding $500 Business Hour Service Calls $80/hour + Materials Cost + Tax After Hour Service Calls $110/hour + Materials Cost + Tax HVAC Cleaning & InspectionGutter CleaningSpring/Fall Exterior CleanupSeasonal Mowing & Weed TrimmingSeasonal Snow PlowingGeneral Contractor Vendor Cost + 10% Oversight Fee