Everything they do is quality.

No state income tax.3. property tax's some of the lowest in the country.4. quality of construction most homes are built with stucco and tile roofs and desert landscape compared to much of the mid west rust belt were its very common to be looking at houses that are 50 to 100 plus years old. and yards grow fast  snow sleet ice all take more wear and tear on your units.we do a lot in most of the mid west rust belt states. the prime motivation is price point and rent to price ratio for those aspects they are the best.

Streamline your communication process to secure quality tenants.Focus on QualityThe condition of your property matters more now than ever.

Are the units vintage quality with in-place rents $500/mo below current market?  

.- The holder of a work permit does effectively become a tax resident as far as the CRA (Canadian Revenue Agency) is concerned at which point they will qualify for certain things such as purchase a house without being considered as the foreign buyer; hence, foreign ban hammer not weighing on them.

To newer investors, they may rely on their agents to act as the Chief Investment Officer, effectively thinking the agent will bring them only perfect deals that meet their investment objectives.  

Contractors, unless you have a working relationship with them, normally do not want you bouncing ideas off them.Understand what their hourly rate is, have a discussion with them that you are okay with paying them an hourly rate if they walk the property with you and provide you a scope of work along with an explanation of what you can/can't get away with in regards to improvements.ask them if you go with them, if they can credit you the amount that you paid.Once you develop a working relationship with a few contractors, you can bounce ideas off them and expect quality responses.I do not invest in New York.Best of luck. 

Not being on the ground makes it difficult to monitor progress and judge the quality of work.

How keep it legal of course but more importantly how to do if effectively.

Some of the materials we choose and asked him to pick up (such as flooring) he replaced with low quality materials, I assume to keep more of our money for himself.