Quote from @Sheryl Sitman: Thanks for sharing.Finding a good property manager is a lot like finding a good Tenant: you need to know what a good one looks like, check many to see if they meet your requirements, select one, regularly monitor them to keep them on track.Many investors hire the first one - or the cheapest one - they can find, then complain that Property Managers are terrible.

Do we invest in a monitored alarm system for the property and pay for it ourselves? 

Please be very watchful and closely monitor your contractor, and don’t forget to call references.  

This means that you will always need a minimum of 10% down to cover seller's closing costs.If you're talking about larger multi's that require commercial financing, that's another story entirely.You should absolutely be monitoring the MLS to get a sense of the market and there are deals on it.  

One strategy we use is to ask for a higher rent than the estimated rent and then monitor the showing traffic.

Monitor the progress, and make sure you exit as you planned.

Bigger Pockets has some great state forums and usually there are good locals that monitor those.

We're monitored by the SEC for all investment and second job activities that could pose a conflict of interest.

It seems wasteful to have Wi-Fi hardware installed inside a locked cabinet (i.e. cellular hotspot or local broadband), that is only there in the basement for the purpose of talking to our smart lock, but I feel like this might be the only practical solution to have immediate, live access to a smart lock for the purpose of monitoring a smart lock, but maybe that's just where technology is at.

Many cities have big restrictions and monitor STR, so when you get caught doing it, either the owner or the city might shut you down, but you'll still be obligated to the lease.