But, when you combine all the potential lost income and damages, I will definitely be the losing party since there's a cap on small claims.

Double down and scale in your own market and lift your current team up. 

To answer your question (that wasn’t actually aimed at me) my concerns are investing in an area that I’m completely new to and building an out of state team that will be effective. 

I work with lots of agents and my team manages 350ish homes in the greater CLT market.

You will not have the rate long enough for it to interfere with your current and proposed profits.This is where having a good team comes into play for example having a seasoned realtor who knows the market on the purchase/ARV side.

Then focus on improving your interviewing skills to help you build a solid team on the ground wherever you do choose to invest.

Yes because lot of time and energy save we hire team for fast work.

Has anyone worked with Mario Cotto and his team.

Some old Milwaukee sewer laterals have tree roots that like catch on to stuff.We also eliminate garbage disposals during rehab and normally we have someone from our team check out issues, before we send a plumber.

Hospitality, attention to detail, cleaning/handyman team, programs used for bookings and calendar organization, inventory audits, home maintenance, etc. are all extremely important but all of that doesn't even begin to describe all of the things an experienced property manager does.It is a matter of how much time and energy you have to invest in your properties and if that time and energy is worth it to you.