After reviewing his unit that was listed by another company that had sat for 3 months I tried to schedule a showing.The automated email bounced back as not working and two separate phone numbers lead to a recording that said to leave a VM and they would call us back.After that I read the description on their unit and it instructed me to go watch a video of the unit on YouTube and apply through their website sight unseen.I am all for automation and leveraging technology but… this business requires professionals as well.

The mitigations I use are to only invest with deal sponsors that I personally know and have seen their work, also diversify geographically and with different operators. 

We had to draw up a brief description of what was lost and why, then State Farm will compensate for that portion.

Our plumber does give us a description of the blockage or issue and we screen this for tenant responsibility- ie superman was snaked out of the toilet, cat litter was dumped out of the now unusable garbage disposal (also interesting in non pet friendly properties) and we will pass that charge on to the tenant with appropriate explanation. 

Pick properties like that; example:  Great School Districts, geographical limitations (mountains, rivers, lakes), gated communities, etc. 

I however am looking to hire a full time W2 employee to handle day to day operations and coordinate between these service providers and run things generally under my supervision.Need help with actually structuring the job description, company standard procedures, and most importantly how to find and vet this person.

Type would be for the geographic location that supports your goal.

They would have to be carried forward into subsequent tax years or offset against other schedule E income.Natalie's post summed it up perfectly and was a more concise description.

I already had a professional photographer take photos of the property and had a writer draft a description of the property, I just need to find a MLS listing service.

You may go 6 months on the hunt in your current market with no promising results, but being involved in another geographic market may bring rain to that drought.