I'm pretty new to real estate investing and have been using a manual texting app that just recently starting blocking me, so I'm looking for something more automated that knows how to circumvent / comply with the latest laws, without having to worry about downtime potential. 

Rise48 seems to be a good operator. 

Cost segregation can help boost cash flow, create substantial tax savings, and increase the profitability of the warehouse operation by accelerating depreciation.A cost segregation study is a strategic tax planning tool that separates the assets that have a shorter useful life and can be depreciated over 5, 7 and 15 years from the residential rental property or nonresidential real property that are depreciated over 27.5 and 39 years, respectively.

The bigger and more diverse your business, the more cumbersome managing multiple policies can become.Administrative Burden: If managing multiple policies is consuming too much time or resources, consolidating may be a way to streamline operations and reduce the workload on your team.Negotiating Leverage: When your business reaches a certain size, you may have enough premium volume to negotiate better terms by consolidating with a single carrier.Final ThoughtsConsolidating your insurance portfolio into a scheduled program can offer significant advantages in terms of cost, simplicity, and risk management.

Like everything else, there are tradeoffs.However, you mentioned being in an area with students, so SFH's in your area may operate more like multifamily units anyways with higher turnover.

Asking for and evaluating T12 is much more relevant to larger MFR with management than M&P operations. 

These are small enough that they are still operated by ma-and-pa operators but they are typically easier to find funding, operators, and contractors for.

When we do ours we check smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, sump pump operation and overall condition but have not focused on cleanliness. 

Another way to approach this is to prepare a written early termination agreement to be signed by the tenant, wherein the tenant agree to vacate by a date certain and to comply other terms (e.g. paying early termination fee or an agreed upon amount if there is no early termination fee provided for in the lease).

I've been operating in Maryland for almost 20 years.I am Bigger Pockets Maryland agent as well.