I think it's a mistake to start PM from scratch on your own.

I realize that I made mistakes, in hind-sight, in working with him.

@Bunmi JooRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Now I am looking back, hiring them was a big mistake, letting them go was a hard, but very Right choice I made in that circumstance.  

If you want to live off of rentals, bust *** and get it done.Credit to you for doing all that, but make no mistake about it. 

Focus on making course corrections on your early mistakes fast and moving on or problem solving. 3.) 

Does anyone have any advice for a beginner on just amateur mistakes, things to look out for etc? 

@Ash BisariaRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

And even though they acknowledged their mistake they refused to refund those out-of-pocket costs we incurred due to their mismanagement and continue to refuse to negotiate with us.

I want you to avoid mistakes but it falls on deaf ears most likely.