I would do three forms of communication, email, phone, text to document you have tried.

I made this mistake on one of the units of a property of mine, and the main thing is I failed to create that channel of communication from closing on new ownership/management.

Also communication is key, guests want to be told everything so I have a canned welcome message and also a white board in the room with extra notes about the house, WiFi, and local restaurants.

I heard of them on Investor Grit's podcast and spent a week or so trying to find reviews and additional info on them as well as communicating via email.

Very good communication. 

This scales your investing.Forces you to network and depend on a team leading to relationships = more businessForces you to develop communication and business systems to stay on trackConsNot as easy to physically be on site if neededReally it comes down to how you want to invest.

On the other hand, PM's need to get better at communicating, implementing available tech tools and managing expectations.What other elements am I missing in designing this symbiotic relationship?

Usually these issues can be solved with good communication and good boundary setting (if not, you need to think about getting rid of the tenant).

By working with your tenants and keeping the communication open about this issue, you can take proactive actions to prevent the pipes bursting.

And who is a good communicator.