It's obvious that more data is needed to truly compare different cities accross the US.

I think it's best to compare yourself to the best competition in your market, regardless of how they are managed.

Separately — and this is a more minor gripe — it was complicating my tax situation to pay state and local income taxes in a place I didn't live anymore.I pitched to my parents that I would sell the place and roll it over into a comparable property closer to where I live.

I have dallas investors who invest here because they can get urban core deals within 1 mile of downtown in adjacent neighborhoods and land is 50k for an infill lot here in columbus compared to idk what it is in dallas 

Obviously it can be done well or poorly, like anything.My experience is that buyers still have a somewhat negative preconception of them and you won't achieve a comparable value on resale even if building costs were the same.

To the extent that a price reduction may make a "stale" listing appealing, worry not, you will get those notification emails on auto pilot anyways.Start doing the compare and contrast, maybe make a spreadsheet to evaluate opportunities, play a game of "spot the patterns." 

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

How does the 30 day selling timeframe compare to the average days on market in your area?

How can one compare funds, and evaluate risk?

Of course, you need to use your common sense when comparing properties.