Bud Selig did it in his last year in office, before he handed the baton to Rob Manfred, but I am sure he had more resources at his disposal than the average guy...lol. 

Dispose of all foodsources, for long term storage.

depending on your income, losses can be taken in the current year or carried forward to offset future income or used when you dispose of the property. 

If the home has a garbage disposal in the kitchen I would remove it.

This is really going to depend on your lifestyle and what you want your disposable income to be.  

You might get a virtual eye-roll but you'll never hear about.What I think wouldn't be prudent is trying to dissect if they bought the "most budge friendly" garbage disposal.

Rent upon disposal $495 for house and $390 for the second unit.House purchased in 2007 for 210K rented for $285 a week.Sold in 2012 $340K Rent at disposal $350 a week!

It sounds like you're feeling a tad overwhelmed by the vastness of options, given the entire U.S. market at your disposal.

Now we live in the modern age where competition is much fiercer and tech tools at our disposal enable us to move at lightning speed and crash at lightning speed.

Regarding if you should DIY manage or hire a PMC:Many new investors read a couple of posts and then think self-managing their rental property, and avoiding PMC charges, is an easy way to boost their ROI.The reality, is that many of these investors really haven’t taken the time to properly understand what it takes to properly manage a rental property and the corresponding tenants.Here’s a list of some of the requirements to properly manage a rental property:Knowledge of all local municipality, state and federal landlord requirementsIntimate knowledge of all Fair Housing statutesUnderstand all federal privacy laws, as they’ll be handling social security numbers and IDsProper business insurance in the event their computer is hacked and or they improperly dispose of tenant data.Where to advertise their rental, other than ZillowWriting ads compliant with Fair Housing statutesCreating a process to accept calls/texts and schedule prospects to show their rentalA rental application and application fees that meet all local and state requirementsKnowing how to screen applicants to avoid professional tenants and the growing amount of fraudulent dataA lease compliant with all local, state & federal lawsUnderstanding local and state requirements regarding security deposit collection and holdingRent acceptance options for tenants and accounting system to track, including late fees, etc.Plans to handle nonpayment of rent issuesKnowledge of their local eviction laws or access to an attorney familiar with evictionsHow to accept, track and respond to tenant maintenance issuesBuilding a list of handymen and contractors for maintenance and turns between tenantsExpertise at evaluating tenant damages to charge against security deposit when tenants move outResearching local utility requirements to avoid suspension of services that could lead to frozen pipes or flooded basements, etc.