Handle this promptly to protect the owner’s interests.

Fast forward two months, and now the property is rented out, so I decided it was time to refinance.

@Dwight HenningRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Especially for things like population growth/decline, economic trends etc.And what things do you recommend checking when trying to decide whether a location is a good place to invest.

I'm an independent agency owner that represents both Foremost and Obie.  

I think that is absolutely right path for the big owners like you.

Unless you believe the owners knew in advance that this model would not work and were doing this to just feather their nest and move on ?

The owner also needs to save for big ticket items that may need to be replaced every 10 or 20 years such as AC, hot water heater, furnace, roof.  

Im not an owner, I don't profit from their jobs or projects.

this means that these owners are under much less pressure to sell, and so they don't really care that their price won't let the property be a good rental.