After reading this thread, a few comments come to mind over this common A or B decision.Without knowing how much it is (no need to say) makes my advice (or more accurately, my opinion) more general in nature but here it goes:Lending has very little to no tax shelters whereas buy and hold does.

Occupancy Rates: How can I accurately estimate average occupancy rates for these areas?

While the “debt to equity” practice may not meet MY PERSONAL definition of “fair”, in and of itself it is not illegal, unethical, or fraudulent.Truth is if the posters warning about the subject have accurately portrayed the specific situation, there is cause for concern.  

If you are buying a BRRRR then make sure your rehab budget and ARV make sense and is accurate. 

This property will be a good test to see how accurate the information is on AirDNA.

Do you think that is accurate?

Read our copy & paste advice below on better screening for a PMC.Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

The owner is asking 600k but I'm not sure his valuation is accurate.

@Andrea LeeRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

That being said, here’s what I would recommend for a thorough DD process:-Build a plan in advance (setup a spreadsheet, meet with the team, etc)-be prepared to take a lot of pictures -document notes with each room (we use notes on Apple and share it with the team)-align the team on standardizing information (example: what does “bad” mean, what does “okay” mean, etc - everyone looks at things differently and you want to make sure the notes are accurate during your debrief)-bring in professionals for things you can see, like sewer lines hope this short list helps!