While this job could be performed remotely, working with my peers in person for at least a year is important to me.

I got a deal on labor as I know the contractor personally and helped out a bit with the project.

Questions they will have is who is the owner, what experience do they have, is their key person insurance against them etc. 

We will shop for used appliances where we can when we need one… or pick up used cabinets if we can, or search eBay for something smaller,  but going to the extreme of personally shipping something big in internationally for one-off renovation needs seems like a stretch of reasonable.Just like you mention, the number of unknowns would not seem to be worth it to me.Just my 2 cents.Randy  

Personally, I self manage but have built systems to allow it to be fully remote and very passive.

I kind of didn't want to mention that on the listing so that it wouldn't turn people away before they even had a chance to see it in person.  

You'll want to put together a personal financial statement (basically lists of all your assets and liabilities) and have your tax returns ready.

Definitely a personal preference.

You will reap the rewards.

Just be mindful that you can't 1031 a personal residence but it might be eligible for capital gain exclusion from section 121.