My husband was paying our bookkeeper $450/month to do our books (for a small number of properties!!)

We can still choose how much to pay someone to operate it if necessary.

I've asked my clients a similar question and have developed tools for them to minimize this, but I find there are a few different types of clients.Manager managed - these folks have no issues as they simply upload their year end statement from their property manager, their 1098 mortgage statement and any other one-off expenses they may have paid for outside of the management company. 

This simply means you have language in your lease that states the landlord is responsible for paying utilities up to a certain $ amount (let's say $100 for the sake of argument).

Ha, hosts anywhere could apply this to their region simply by changing a few verbs and nouns.

If I were new I would simply stick to areas close to where I live.

Booking.com people pay a premium pricing and are good guests.

Assuming it simply won't happen, is failure to plan.

Not trying to scare you, but a lot of lawsuits happen because the landlord doesn't follow fair housing laws, or simply neglects repairs etc.

@Mario Morales, to echo Bradley, I would say this depends on what you are lacking in your own knowledge base.To some (probably many investors) the agent is simply an initial filter for them.