Plus if something goings wrong when the tenant hires someone it seems like it could open a can of worms and finger pointing.   

Don't get me wrong, I am extremely pro STR and it now represents a large part of my income, but I don't think sticking our fingers in our ears and being tone deaf about the issues it has exacerbated is constructive. 

Fingers crossed!

technology that weeds out busy's, drops a voice mail, and allows you to do less manual labor with your fingers, and outsource-able is brilliant..

Fingers crossed.

Where the manufacturers/builders tend to get frustrated is when they are finding about this last minute and you the customer ends up in the middle of a finger pointing disagreement where you dont know who is right or wrong.  

It looks like the engineering schools focus a lot on the subject matter but not much on being in your own business as engineer - consequence: huge engineering firms, which will charge you a fortune for lifting a finger.

(Fingers crossed) Of course I need a contract but other than a good contract what else do I need to be aware of?

Fingers crossed.

Good luck and fingers crossed your inspection doesn't find anything big that they aren't willing to take care of.