Hi @Tyler Koller I've used apartments.co for screening and rent collection in the past and it worked well. 

Some people will say, "Take out a quality Insurance Policy and you will be protected."

https://www.singlekey.com/en-us/ - I believe they screen the tenant as part of their underwriting before issuing the rent guarantee policy and the tenant also pays the premiums. 

Even still, it could be said that I've still lost money due to my time on the tools instead of prospecting as a real estate agent (the cost of lost opportunity).If you can truly do 80%-90% of the work yourself (at acceptable quality levels) and you aren't sacrificing your time where you can get better returns for your efforts, then yes, it can work even up here in Canada.

Maybe start with a part-time ops manager or a reliable lead cleaner to free up your time while keeping quality high.

Also, if you need a quality GC in the Charlotte and surrounding area please reach out!

Did you find any prior knowledge (tenant screening) of pets moving in?

You will need a software, screening policy, work order request system, etc... 

Do it very intentionally, not just for the sake of scaling up, but to get better quality or easier to manage properties that will replace lower quality or harder properties. 

But occasionally we have issues and tenants need to be asked to leave or just decide to disappear in the middle of winter and it sucks.The worst part is I find the quality of tenant interested or willing to move this time of year isn't the greatest either - often times there is a reason they have to move right now since most landlords don't like ending leases this time of year.Either lower your rent or just hang in there.