And I have looked at AirDNA as well as old fashioned VRBO/Airbnb scouting. 

Perhaps residential rental is a dirty business no matter what market you're in and how long you've been in.Funny how both you and @Charles Kao mentioned the word "greedy." haha,Thanks mate and I appreciate it.It's not just the turnkey operators that should stay local but more so the marketing companies and sales channels selling turnkey properties.They put their name/brand behind too many markets and they usually ruin it within 24 months.Their have been so many instances of this happening over the years (I won't mention any names but they are all known and well talked about on for forum).Only very few are still alive that work in multiple markets but even they had many setbacks and lost face on multiple occasions and in multiple markets.As I mentioned in my prior comment, it's hard enough doing a good job in just one market lolRoofstock isn't a turnkey company by the way.They are more of a tech platform.VC's gobble that stuff up.Not sure if Roofstock has any IP with their tech but if they do, it doesn't look like anything fancy or that can't be easily replicated IMO.VC's are very hot lately on real estate tech so I'm sure Rooftsock will be able to raise more capital if needed and expand further.Business these days has become more about raising capital, spending it, raising more, spending it and then hopefully getting a high enough valuation for some of early investors (Series A for example) to sell and make a high ROI.I like the old fashioned way of doing business lol.It's called "Growing revenue and profit every year and never loosing or borrowing money".Yep, you call me "An old dog" business owner I guess lolThe market is full or "Wantrapreneurs" these days and not many true entrepreneurs.Anyway, back to turnkey lolTurnkey companies don't need to nickel and dime on PM because they make their margin on the sale and not necessarily on the PM.Don't get me wrong, they will still make their money on the PM side but they will also cover a lot out of pocket themselves.Most of us want our clients to be happy and to buy more so we go above and beyond for them during the after sale process.Even if it means putting our hand in our own pocket sometimes.12% is high for PM but not unusual.We charge 10% and for some lower class properties we charge 12%.PM is a ****** business mate and you only start seeing something come from it after you manage around 300 units.It's usually a **** show for the first 3-4 years lolPM is a thankless job mate and tenants will always complain and post bad reviews no matter what.As long as their aren't many bad reviews from landlords, that's what matters most when judging a PM company.Here is a tip for you.Any PM with reviews of 4 stars or better on Google is doing a very very good job.Even 3.5 isn't bad.3 stars is borderline IMO (Make sure to check them out to see if any landlords are posting complaints).You can't win with contractors mate.It's a non stop cycle of "hire and fire".It's just a cost of doing business in this line of work.Thanks mate and much success

@Yi ChuThe tried and true, old fashioned, way is to keep a notebook in your car as a mileage log. 

i would like to insulate myself as well as the seller from any risk. sometimes i will be working with another home stager and only supplying the artwork. either way, it would behoove me to have this covered from my end, hopefully nominally as far as price point, to make for a smooth and happy transaction for everyone. i'm trying to build a template which can be utilized for the broad brush strokes of this type of business. are there any other questions i should be asking?

You could find a buyer the old-fashioned way.

I was wondering what you guys use to keep track and mand cost of equipment, materials and labor.I'm debating whether I should use a good old-fashioned excel spreadsheet or if there's an app out there that can assist with us

If it is a privately held company, you can submit request in similar fashion.

In theory even artwork works, but don't try to get all creative with a smiley face you drew in watercolor paint securing $75k in debt. 

I own a website design firm that also focuses on the Contracting industry, and have worked with clients ranging from multi-billion dollar tech companies to fashion labels and small construction firms. 

The only thing I'll add is that if you're going FHA, you'll need a particularly creative/aggressive lender if you want to use FHA multiple times in this fashion.