This is not the business where you want to make mistakes or learn from your mistakes as if you get negative publicity upfront, those reviews will be there for a long time, and a huge majority of guests read these reviews before they decide on a property.I would also consider staying at another airbnb, especially by those who have high ratings and super host, to find out how they communicate or deal with their guests. 

If anything, just to gain experience that goes into a full rehab so we know how to communicate what we want with future GC's.

Most of my communication with the manager is via text.  

And I'm guessing that it's probably their lack of proactive communication and response that had you look elsewhere.The issue that muddies the water is that he is your manager and the one who is supposed to be the point of contact with your tenants. 

You were exactly right that she was not a motivated seller but I do still have open contact with her and can still contact an agent that I had only slightly communicated with in the past.

As Wes mentioned above, communicate clearly with your PM and set up a limited POA for someone you trust. 

You can advertise your vacancies, communicate with tenants, receive online payments, track maintenance requests, etc. 

Every company is going to operate a bit differently and you want to ensure that you are comfortable with their operations as well as their style of communication.No company is perfect but a great company will provide great communication to owners and tenants alike and be proactive in refining their systems so when the inevitable hiccups occur there is a plan of action to make corrections and grow stronger over time. 

Get right on it so they know your serious, and stay in close communication each step of the way so it doesn’t get away from you! 

Having a RE attorney work with the seller's RE attorney is not an issue and as long as the RE attorney is competent and communicative all should go well.But I'll still give some advice from what I've learned the hard way: if there are any contingencies such as repairs (usually discovered and agreed on after the inspection) make certain all repairs/contingencies are completed prior to closing - and literally go and check to make certain these repairs were actually done.