Or the property is a dump and I don't want my reputation harmed? 

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

For myself, I've come to realize that "rules of thumb" aren't very helpful in analyzing a deal and probably do more harm than good in that they will basically eliminate any deal right now and keep you from taking action.

We define it as, "a situation that will cause physical harm to an occupant or major immediate damage to the home."

you fix the place up and rerent ASAP to mitigate damages. any damages are paid from security deposit and a statement as such is mailed out in compliance with your local regulations. then, if your new tenant does not come in until april, you bill old tenant for any days unit was vacant. assuming they paid march rent on time, if you rerent in march, you have to refund any days not vacant. you cannot collect double rent. in the meantime, tell tenant now that you understand his problems and want to do everything possible to keep it from negatively effecting him, however, he has signed a legally binding lease, and if he does not pay april rent, you will file for eviction, which will stay on his record for 7 years. his best option is to help you get a new tenant in there before april 1...no harm no foul. his next steps need to be cooperating with you so you can get handymen in there to assess damage and plan for turnover. tenant can also make sure everything is as clean as possible, as soon as possible. in no way shape or form should you let tenant repaint or even consider repairing anything. that should only be done by your people. honestly, he is only leaving one month early, and leaving mid month gives you more time to rehab and get somebody in there by april 1. if he left last day of april, you would most likely experience a one month vacancy. this may be a blessing in disguise, so use it to get someone in for april 1.

STRs will be harmed when the stimy money dries up and consumers balance sheets normalizes.  

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

Things may be different here in the Denver market though.I personally wouldn't take your 1K offer to walk you through your first listing, but every agent is different and there's no harm in trying to go that route.

If they can work from anywhere, why not work in a beautiful location with views, rich wildlife, no traffic, low cost of living, high quality of life, low taxes, highspeed internet, and more?