It’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed when starting out, but it’s great that you’ve been saving and reading up on investing.

Here's a video with some tips, but I recommend you watch several videos, read some blogs, and educate yourself on what to look for in a brokerage:

I regularly listen to 2 BP podcasts and am reading about real estate investing right now.

From the start we could tell she hadn't read any of the questions we carefully answered nor reviewed any of the sensitive documents we uploaded during onboarding.

As everyone said, 20% is fair for a manager to take care of a STR.

you can't really micromanage tenants.All you can do is create systems with some flexibility.Again, if you read how we charge our Processing Fees, they encourage the behavior we want, while discouraging (via fees) the behavior we do not want. 

She read 2 books, "Retire with Real Estate" and "Set for Life".

You'll want to read Maryland new requirements for landlords.https://dhcd.maryland.gov/TurningTheKey/Documents/HB693-Land...

I read your post and it looks like you want a partner but it wasn't very clear exactly what you want or what you're looking for.

Also I understand the funds aren't available for the improvements so that is another obstacle that has me leaning towards price reductions to move on as soon as possible.The exit of lower tier SFH's is something very few investors care to consider when making their investments but deserves far more consideration.