I would always recommend comparing your expected returns on a deal against other non-real estate options and do what makes the most sense.  

Anything is helpful, in term of the services you use, your client's avatar, the return/work compared to long term rental.

We were particularly interested in this deal because it involved a light rehab, which is less complex and time-consuming compared to more extensive renovations.

This is a great time to look into the New York multi family market.Brooklyn has seen the highest percentage increase in inventory (74%) compared to other NYC metro area counties since last year (source: oneKey MLS). 

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

I hear it compared to Memphis on occasion and wonder what the similarities are?

For example, single-pane windows can make heating and cooling more expensive compared to double-pane windows.

Oakland is another story Not sure you can compare to Sf the crime there is pretty nasty I used to work in downtown Oakland and it was fine in the 80s  Now I wont even go there..

It’s best if I start interviewing both, so I can compare the two.