Also, not sure what relationship you have established with your property manager but typically people hire managers to take care of this part and be tenant-facing.  

If not, consider establishing one for 2025, after learning the rules.

If the tenant fails to establish their own policy, enroll them in your renter's insurance policy and charge it back to them.

Cashflow is guaranteed, Appreciation is gambling, blah blah blah.

If it’s verbal, they’ll need to document any prior communication or payment records to establish the relationship.If the PM is completely unresponsive, they may want to send a formal written demand for communication and payments via certified mail.

Established agents are too busy to host open houses and they have leads coming in from previous sales and referrals.

I understand that starting out, depending on how fast you want to build your portfolio, you could spend a lot of time at it.For those with established investment portfolios, how much time is required to maintain it?

Needless to say, many parties are involved, and they all need to be established and verified, or your business will suffer greatly. 

After hearing about, and personally encountering some horror stories of disagreements between homeowners and contractors, I am wanting to establish a clear contract to use with a new general contractor. 

With their established networks and resources, they can resolve issues more efficiently and with less stress for the property owner.However, if you have the time and availability to oversee daily operations full-time or nearly full-time, self-management may be the better choice for starting out.