I am a beginner in this and I would like what basics questions should I check before getting into this business.

Everything in the article makes total sense...wealth building helps through appreciation and debt paydown over time.It makes sense that chicago suburbs with strong school districts perform the best. 

. $250mnth is not good performance.

Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – so, they often select the first PMC they call or that calls them back!

Hi everyone,I’m looking for some guidance on improving the performance of our short-term rental, and I’d really appreciate your insights.

Perform an inspection while you're at it. 

No beginners. 

As a beginner you are green enough that you need to temper your enthusiasm to make sure you don’t bite at bad deals.  

I found similar patterns between all 5 companies: namely, they had taken on too many units, were over-charging me for things I didn't need, and weren't handling issues correctly (they would send out vendors who didn't know what they were doing, mis-diagnose issues etc.)No disrespect to the PMs on this chain or BP in general, but any third-party manager won't perform exactly the way you would like them to simply because of the constraints they are faced with as far as having so many units and owners to keep tabs on. 

Think of it like buying an existing performing business.