Agree with others that you will probably need to lower the rent - suggest 5% every 2-4 weeks until activity picks up. 

Take them to coffee and pick their brain. 

My advice: don’t overthink it—your first house hack is about learning, so pick a strong rental market, ensure solid demand, and lock in a deal that gets you close to break-even or better.

I think those are all good picks.

When they go on sale, I post them here but I pick some up.Coffee makers (broken carafes) and waffle makers.

While this isn't a hard and fast rule, more often then not, these are the guys that can't manage their schedules well, and will be gung-ho on your job for a couple weeks, then be flaking out as they picked up too much work and are trying to keep too many homeowners happy.And lastly, the more detail you have the better the bid will be with few change orders.  

I would not let a GC pick finishes - especially if its a flip - if anything get a realtor to assist.In regards to doing this from afar, I recommend hiring a project manager for a few grand per month to oversee the project for you, if not you are relying 100% on the GC which is not something I recommend. 

So how many did you pick up since the post ? 

@Heather Baileywhy not pick a market within a couple hours? 

I noticed that your initial post was from 4 months ago and would love to connect with you to pick your brain about your progress over last few months :)