I will try sending it in writing since most communication so far has been over the phone or text.

I think land lording has taught me that the sad truth is that the majority of people are terrible and dishonest communicators.

For me, it's a great tool to keep track of communication with leads efficiently and allows me to share any voice or text communication with my clients as necessary.

What I would do is politely communicate the issue to the applicant.

Within 1 year we were publishing in booking and a few smaller channels and tied in to a pricing engine, lock automation, setup a set of great communication workflows, etc.

As it stands now, I am going to renovate the apartments, the tenants will pay me and I will communicate with them directly about all issues with the property etc.

With effort and good communication from all parties involved everything was done remotely with me in South Africa.

Managing STRs involves guest communication, coordinating cleanings, promptly (like, within an hour or so) handling any maintenance issues - it's completely reasonable that their rate is higher than that of a LTR PM.  

Interacting with tenants took a lot of my emotion energy and I was not the worlds best screener.As far as repairs go, you’ll  have those whether you self manage or whether you are use a PM so that’s beside the point.

Be prepared to adjust the price if necessary to attract more interest.Prompt communication: Respond to inquiries and messages from potential renters in a timely and professional manner.