I think I just had to pay a small fee (under $50) if I’m not mistaken.

Sadly, the data on which markets have performed best over the past several decades is not readily available in a format that makes that study easily achievable (if I'm mistaken, I'm happy to round it up for the BP blog, just point me in the right direction!).

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, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean?

Very marginal Tenants here: sometimes they have eviction or two and put extra security deposits, always pay late fees and once in a while there is an eviction happen.These you can tell by higher crime rate, subsidized school lunches very high, low market value and high %% of rentals (auditor site gives that info as "non owner occupied".The best idea to get a feeling for the areas you'd be comfortable to buy- drive by on Friday evening or Saturday  whole day long.Statistics are good but without personal look you might get mistaken - there are plenty good pockets in bad neighborhoods and vise versa 

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

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, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean?

Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so the price is the only differentiator.So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean?