Make sure they are properly licensedAsk about their experience, particularly with the type of property you seek to be managedAsk them what their tenant selection criteria isAsk about their payouts, accounting and datesDo they have tech-savvy features like tenant / owner portals, online payments / applications, etc.Ask about their advertising methodology and who pays for itWhat about maintenance and cleaning - is it in-house, who do they useFinally ask about their management fee structure (too many people decide on this alone).Expanded information is available in this blog post on the same topic.

Can be contacted quickly and understand business plan and methodologies if Primary lender falls through.

You might try calling some local PM firms and finding out if they are willing to piece-out their services, perhaps finding you a tenant or performing showings for a fee but leaving the month-to-month to you.I have come up with a lot of methodology on my own and borrowed a lot from other landlords, particularly some of the principles from "Landlording on Autopilot" by Mike Butler. 

Everything in it was ancient, but in perfect working order.

Okay - so I'm going to create 'landing pages' for my mailers... in working on this project, I discovered that my local assessor has a fairly rudimentary methodology for storing and calling their image archive for local properties...

Asbestos, lead paint, ancient wirings and electrical box, there is plenty that would disqualify it for a mortgage.

Now when I used to do courthouse steps I did not trust anyone for values .. and since I am a Broker with access to MLS I did my own evals.To truly be in this business in the bay short of maybe getting lucky to buy one prop a year you need team work and methodology to be able to assess a property in a matter of an hour or two. because the one you get focused on probably will not go to sale very few actually do. so you need to be evaluating 100 or more to get a shot at one..this is what seperates those who are successful to those who think they may want to try it.. its not really a mom and pop business on the west coast.. you can do this in the mid west no problem low values and tons of activity.

Located in a great neighborhood, formal DR, family room, built-in shelving, laundry closet & lrg eat-in kitchen w/ plenty of cabinet space.The home was once a rental, then individual family purchased it, they were foreclosed on, and the home sat empty for over 1 year.I have made some modifications to the home since I purchased with the help of family:  installed 2 new ceiling fans in the bedrooms, replaced 2 interior door knobs, replaced all outlets with 3 prong grounded, rewired the living room and hung double ceiling fans as there was not lighting other than lamp plugged into outlet, painted the dining room and kitchen, installed a dish washer, some small landscaping projects around the home, had ancient HVAC system serviced,  but much more needs to be done.  

Many times a foriegn worker will have problems grasping US business concepts, methodology or instructions.

I don’t care what guru forms you are using, or what they told you.......the “and/or assigns” is old, old methodology.