Zillow and Trulia therefore are utterly worthless .

I want tenants who will pay rent, and not utterly destroy my property.

An utter waste of time.Look for minimum hassles, low fees, good splits, good training and support and you'll do well.

Utter bull****. 

I went with a national branded company with local franchises...utterly useless.

I would be utterly shocked if at least 75% of the agents today are still in the industry 15 years from now (at last in their current form).

And apologies in advance if this is an utterly noob and obvious question. 

It sounds utterly INSANE to me to think about allowing someone mess with plumbing, or electrical, no way in heck this is a good idea.  

Forgive my utter ignorance.

Do a search for available SF rentals in decent areas and no matter where you look you'll see an utter lack of inventory and there are always people looking for someplace decent in a good school district to rent because they're not in a position to buy but can afford to rent and want their kids in good schools.