(Hint - go on VRBO and see what your local competition is charging). 2) How much do you intend to put down?

And IMHO, the prices are dropping big time (on avg. 10K/month...houses that were above 300K a year ago are not selling at 250K now) and the available rentals saturation is worse than I seen during summer season (with rents dropping from 1$-1.08/sqft to 0.8$/sqft and very little contacts and applications...just go in Zillow and look how many rentals are on the market now in Kyle, New Braunfels or Converse). 

Quote from @Ashish Acharya: @Sanjai Dayal If your LLC owns the commercial building and leases space to your medical practice LLC, it’s essential to charge rent at fair market value (FMV) to avoid IRS scrutiny.

Here's an ideal PM contract: The two keys are: The PM is incentivized to make you money, not charge high fees, and is contractually bound to provide reporting that you can understand in a timely manner. 

I would first check city/county STR rules and HOA (if applicable). 

The processes remain the same when recruiting and retaining good tenants- there is definitely a better pool of applicants in the OP area however, I been very fortunate to not have had any mayor issues, yet in either market. 

My mom says to ask if they're almost done with the application and let them know that another couple inquired and offered $1,700 and see if they want to match that price.

This is straight from the CFPB website: "Additionally, for 60 days from the date your loan servicing transfers, your new servicer cannot charge you a late fee or treat the payment as late if you sent it to your previous servicer on time or within the applicable grace period."

Worst case scenario, if that doesn't work, I can simply do fertilizer applications and landscape lighting as they don't require much labor.

Some costs are eliminated (such as 'soft charges') while others are accounted for in the interest rate.