The newer properties and neighborhoods tend to bring A paper tenants but smaller returns, while the older neighborhoods and older apartment buildings offer higher returns but also come with a more selective screening process for tenants.

Screen the property management company as hard as you would the tenant.

It's a charge you should pay for, and then take steps to make it difficult for trash from the yard to get sucked into the intake again- some type of screen maybe?  

By delaying consideration of criminal history until after an individual’s financial and other qualifications are verified, a housing provider may be able to minimize any additional costs that such individualized assessment might add to the applicant screening process. 

I have A type rentals and I screen for A type tenants.

In an unofficial response they basically tell me that you can't take blood from a stone and the landlord can take the financial hit vs a tenant.  

I've yet to hear a complaint about their service, and would welcome feedback.I also personally used them to screen my tenants, who have been nothing other than wonderful to date.That said, we don't force anyone to use any product or service, and you can use whoever you like to conduct your background checks.

They also do application capture and secure storage as well as screening.

Renting to a friend of a friend is likely going to be a very bad idea.Roommate situations often end up in a disaster.If you insist on doing this, besides worrying about the security deposit,  include a very thorough screening on this person; credit check, criminal check, review of past rental history, income verification.And a WRITTEN lease outlining the specifics of what the two of you expect from each other is a must.Gail

Personally, I'm using Tellus for rental property management, including rent collection, tracking financial reports, screening tenants, etc.