When you buy halfway across the country and expect a turnkey process where someone or some company is doing all of the detailed work, such as property selection, renovation work, and property management, you are entirely reliant on their ability. 

-Landlord reserves all rights to reject any or all applicants that does not meet the selection criteria set by the landlord.

Looking online is better than nothing, but selected pictures never tell the full story. 

What advice would you offer to someone with no experience to date with rentals in terms of selecting the best location to look for properties? 

That, a few podcasts, a few select books, and a couple of subscriptions choke full of info material (less than 100$/month), maybe a couple mentorship programs (for less than 2K/year), and a lot of action on your part and you'll be a lot better than paying $$K for "gurus".To rephrase, do you have more money than you know what to do with or an urgent need to get it to work for you, together with a lot of time on your hands ready to take massive action?

To avoid going through the same poor experience, keep reading.Even if someone gives you a referral here, do NOT make the mistake of assuming that the PMC will meet your expectations, just because they met the expectations of the referral source.In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

For help with the section-8 process, it's very important to have a PM that's familiar and connected with the HUD programs in the selected market. 

Way too much risk but may work profitably in very select markets.

I would begin marketing immediately, and mention it will be ready the date that you have very high confidence it will be available.The harder part is being selective what you show. 

They can take time with their search and be more selective about a property’s location and condition.