Your aim starting out should be to get the best reviews as possible and use guest feedback to make improvements as you go.

The utility company doesn't manage your property...they provide paid services until they're not paid anymore. 

That is done via placing the highest quality tenant possible, keeping issues to absolute minimum, keeping maintenance and service calls to minimum, because to make it work properties have to operate on cruise-control.

There are lenders out there spending a ton on advertising with an army of correspondent's funneling them loans and many can very well be one and done borrowers because the loan servicing/construction admin is lousy. 

My plan for this year is improve my credit, get my real estate license (to increase my income on top of my W-2), possibly career transition into the property management space (to learn more), and save as much as possible and learn as much as I can.I’d love to house hack close to home but my area is so expensive it seems like it’d be close to impossible. 

For example, if she can't visit the property, is she good at record keeping (so everything is organized at tax time) or finding vendors, comparing product prices, finding free or low cost items on Facebook marketplace to improve the rental)3. emergency fund.

There are a few reasons for this: getting insurance in place improperly; inappropriate contact with the bank; one loan servicer that is looking for wraps; etc. 

Are they a regular, full-service PM? 

We also have a huge budget allowance from the city over the next few years to improve public transportation measures within the city.

The lender did not use a servicing company, and the pay history is being contested (which should be easy to prove)2.