I guess a stupid opening question would be, what strategy is the best for a long distance investor to get started? 

Real estate’s a marathon, not a sprint, so keep your eye on the long game.

A long as you purchased more than you sold. 

Quote from @Carlos Lopes: Quote from @Villy Ellinger: Quote from @Carlos Lopes: yea I have noticed the overall STR performance is down for the area, but I’m trying to really see the pros and cons for long term holding.

I'm not sure I'd have a PM oversee another contractor but I would probably have them involved at some level especially if you are working long distance.

Play the long game, you can start small and build, just don't go to zero. 

Any thoughts on tenant screening, and what I could be doing to make sure I get good longterm tenants ?

There's only so long one can hang onto unrealized losses when the cracks start to emerge.

This term has nothing to do with being licensed to write insurance or not.  

@Emmanuel OlaIf you can get a longer term conventional loan I would choose that over a hard money loan every time - this is of course assuming the hard money loan has higher interest rate as well as a shorter maturity date