The rules are pretty complicated and the only people who really know all the terms and rules thoroughly are the Rent Levelling Board.Caveating that I’m not an attorney so go seek your own advice but I clarified a few things at a recent rent levelling hearing (which are open to the public and you can find the schedules with a simple Google).

If your property management company is good and has built an internal maintenance team which has set rates and had strong relationship relationships with licensed contractor which should keep costs in control, you should never need to shop contractors on your own I wouldn't think.So in short, our policy is give us your preferred contractors upfront if you have them, but then we work all tickets to resolution including dispatch, and payment of invoices.This is of course for operational expenses.  

It sounds like you may be a better fit for a smaller operation that still offers guided tours.

Once your build contract is signed and the build deposit is received, it's not just a matter of filling out some simple paperwork to start the permitting process.

Does anyone have any advice on effectively setting up temporary battery-operated cameras on a long-term rental property to deter break-ins and squatters while rent-ready repairs are being made before a tenant moves in?

@Jay Hinrichs exactly the risk is even more than traditional development and the profit is actually less with more operational headaches.

Both my wife and my background is in manufacturing, specifically operations, customer service, and project/account management. 

@Michael Beirne Lower priced markets such as Baltimore are very difficult to operate in utilizing entirely 3rd party support.

Is it Leasing, Property Management, Vendor Management, Operations, Finance, Accounting... 

So at the moment, if you buy a property now and operate it as a 30 day rental, owners are not having any problems with the gov't.