Of course, with all things, the answers to all these matters will depend on the circumstances.California tends to have more laws on the books and requirements and restrictions that it can be a good idea to form a CA LLC for out of state property so that you as a CA resident are covered, and to try to have your contracts fall under the purview of CA courts.

Depending on the state, you have to take certain steps before eviction process can proceed.Read up on the state landlord/tenant laws and become very familiar with for future.

I mean this depends on where you are at financially.

Depending on the location of your properties, an assistant might be much better than a property management company.

We then will either sell or keep it as a STR depending on what makes more sense for us. 

The amount depends on negotiations between you and the property owner. 

@Hector Lewis - The decision ultimately depends on your current cash reserves relative to your financial needs, as well as your willingness to reinvest for potential appreciation.

This really all depends on the property type.

For example, require a minimum FICO score of XXX, gross monthly income X times the rent, and verifiable income for the last X years.

Depending on the scope of the conversion it could get quite expensive as well.