The median time to contract has increased by 23.33% to 37 days, signaling a more thoughtful buying process.

A few important things I would be looking for:1) the experience and credentials of the broker who supervises the company as well as the lead property manager2) the services they offer and how they line up with your needs and expectations3) the use of technology to make their job and yours easier 4) if they have a landlord-tenant attorney on retainer to help guide them on legal issues (not to mention the creation of lease agreement, landlord forms and notices, etc.)5) their process and policy for a) listing, b) application, c) tenant selection, d) routine inspections, e) maintenance services, f) property and tenancy update reports to you, g) lease enforcement policy, and f) move-out process.6) property owner reviews (you can't always rely on Google reviews, because they may not reflect actual quality of the company, but still) 7) beneficial programs for both owner and tenant 8) a property management agreement that would indicate they know what they're doing and have the experience to know what matters in a PMA.

@Chris Seveney  I saw your answer to this question and was wondering how you manage the LLC, do your retain your LLC mortgage, and have the tenants pay as they always did to the LLC or did you have all payments to the trust and new accounts with the trust on them.

@Jason Coleman  You can retain consultants who specialize and advocate on your behalf to insure you get the correct amount covered. 

Regular maintenance, upgrades, and amenities improvements can help retain tenants and attract new ones.

If a lender is not adhering to this common safeguards then that would be my first red signal .

Put 3.5-5% down, retain most of your capital, and get started that way. 

Hobby landlords will generally be reluctant (embarrassed) to raise rent and will normally keep rent below market with the false belief that it retains tenants saving turn over costs.

I still own 1/2 of the remaindership portion.Here are the questions….For my portion, do I retain the carryover basis from value of property gifted to me from my dad?

A "reorganization took place, one of the families left the group in exchange for the insurance proceeds and the property then had 4 owners (and 4 cottages)2000:  I bought ($42,000) my parent's share.2000-2010:  I bought the other shareholder's shares (total $300,000), leaving just me as the sole shareholder2017:  Elected to file as S corp.None of these transactions were properly recorded.2022 1120S tax return (2023 is on extension) shows:$0 income$15,000 Land (sched L, line 12)$122k Loans from me($189K) Retained earning$93K cap stock($46k) Sched m-2I have no idea how we got to these amounts.Does any of this make things easier to understand and easier to get me out of this capital gains problem (or does it just muddy things even more)?