It's not for everyone because of the more hands on management it entails but the returns can blow most long term rentals out of the water right now.

I’m relatively new in my STR/MTR journey (but have extensive LTR property management and investing experience).

With my first property, I have a property management company handle everything there so this research is new to me. 

I know it’s probably not ideal from an efficiency perspective but I’d definitely like to manage the risk as much as possible. 

I work specifically with out-of-state investors to buy, sell, and manage their rentals homes.

The tenant's assistance check is randomly short and my PM has to hassle their case manager to get it fixed. 

I'm house hacking so I do live in the basement while managing the property but had nothing to do with it and no idea who did.

Or to property manage?

Remember that effective mail campaigns require multiple touches, and it's important to continue skip tracing to reach absentee owners who may not receive standard mail.If cold calling isn't your preference, consider hiring a virtual assistant (VA) to manage this task for you. 

And FWIW, after managing tons of cleaning vendors for HUD and others in my past life, my approach is that you get what you pay for, that you should pay a little more than the average for your market if you want your cleaner to be a partner to your business (and that such will pay for itself), that you should thank and appreciate them often, that you should make them feel free to reach out for bonus requests but also should decrease the frequency of such by not reducing their comp when they encounter easier-than-normal cleanings, and that you should pay them immediately after the cleaning.