Look for a manager who’s upfront about all potential costs, so there are no surprises down the road.Communication is Everything:A reliable property manager should communicate well—not just with you, but with tenants too.

Recommend you connect & communicate with @Russell Brazil who knows a bit about the Baltimore market.In the meantime, read below about how nightmares often occur:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a Class A property in Class D area, what quality of tenant will you get?

So, $5k/$20k = 25% return on your investment.This is a very simple example that ignores the rental income vs any mortgage payment (taxes & insurance, etc. would be the same in both examples).To increase cashflow, you would also want to take the lower payment of a 30-year mortgage vs 15-year.Regarding the purchase:1) Require the seller to have tenants sign a MTM lease or vacate before closing.

As long as the rents are equal to or greater than the mortgage payment it’s a simple loan to get approved.

Reviews are a significant asset, and losing them can hurt future bookings.If a PM needs access to manage bookings, update pricing, or handle guest communication, they can still do so without owning the listing.

You can usually find some events by doing a simple google search.

I’m looking at a simple point-in-time matrix based purely on cash flow return.

In this last year, their communication with me has become almost silent. 

To me this is a simple cost benefit analysis.

Especially given the fact that she's a full-time real estate agent, you shouldn't have any issues.I personally like using my calendar (i.e. having clear appointment related to real estate) combined with a simple Excel / Google Spreadsheet as the tracker.