-Being able to give your tenants the professional experience of timely responses, quick attention to maintenance, using the on-hand already vetted roster of vendors, providing a sense of formal hospitality and customer service... can be worth the management fees. - Staying compliant with various tenant laws and fair housing policies is also a big factor I hear a lot.

I’m on the verge of giving Booking.com the boot , too many cancellations and the worst part is when you call customer service, which is China ….in order to validate you as a host they give you a call back so you can’t get your answer quickly and the callback takes a few minutes and half the time the call does not make it through- enough to make you wanna scream.

Don't be so quick to indebt your paid off townhome until your learn creative financing and review all your options.

I very quickly had to reorient him to my reasons for dissatisfaction, to which he offered no remorse.

You learn what you can as quickly as possible, and start implementing.

@Josh Ball thanks Joh - plan to do all comms via vrbo messaging Appreciate your quick response

I should have clarified that what I meant was that there are PMs out there that will do the most expedient thing and accept a tenant just to receive a quick commission.  

My investors acquire with cash as a routine investment strategy to secure properties quickly and eliminate competing buyers using financing.

If you can pay off the HELOC quickly, that is not bad way to go. 

I can however relatively quickly add up to a 500 Sqft garage.