Many OOS investors set themselves up for failure because they don't truly take the time to understand:1) The Class of the NEIGHBORHOOD they are buying in - which is relative to the overall area.2) The Class of the PROPERTY they are buying - which is relative to the overall area.3) The Class of the TENANT POOL the Neighborhood & Property will attract - which is relative to the overall area.4) The Class of the CONTRACTORS that will work on their Property, given the Neighborhood location - which is relative to the overall area.5) The Class of the PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES (PMC) that will manage their Property, given the Neighborhood location and the Tenants it will attract - which is relative to the overall area.6) That a Class X NEIGHBORHOOD will have mostly Class X PROPERTIES, which will only attract Class X TENANTS, CONTRACTORS AND PMCs and deliver Class X RESULTS.7) That OOS property Class rankings are often different than the Class ranking of the local market they live.8) Class A is relatively easy to manage, can even be DIY remote managed from another state.

The questions to ask a PM shown above are excellent, and I've little to add except to maybe see contractor licenses and insurances.If you want to DIY, study each unit, and see whats vulnerable - an old dishwasher, an old anything.

We're now also in Huntsville and really excited about what we're seeing there, so even if you're looking to do it more DIY (like BRRRR rather than turnkey provider) I'd recommend looking at both cities.

Wave (or QBO or Xero, etc.) can assist with that for the DIY crowd.

This is probably a DIY project.

Nate,We work with Solid Source Realty, which is probably one of the larger DIY brokerages (meaning, they don't require office hours, no pre-set number of deals you have to do, etc).

:@Isaac Agbolosoo You use the services of a specialist like @Scott Smith, not quite a DIY project. 

@Nick Klomstad man you threw the whole kit and caboodle into this deal.  

He offers different kits on his website.

I'm fairly handy myself and can DIY just about anything that could go wrong on my own house, but having a good GC or project manager efficiently handling subcontractors is the real key to a successful build.