After talking to my RE agent he recommended a company they use.  

Additionally, if there are any resources or reading materials that you could recommend to help me learn more about this process, I would greatly appreciate it.

I'm looking for an experienced handyman recommendation in Fremont, CA.

The broker does this for free because they get to supply the resulting force-placed policy.  

If anyone can recommend a less expensive brand that they think is great, I'm all ears.

Unless they provided you proof of replacing the line out to the street with PVC I highly recommend it.

Is there a recommended option for washer/dryer that doesn't require coins/bills but instead takes phone pay or a card, so that both tenants and prop managers don't have to deal with coins and bills?

I'd recommend speaking with local investor-friendly agents who can weigh in on YOY property value growth and rental increases for all projections.Lastly, if you are going down the STR route, choose a property/area that will still allow cash flow if the property was used as an LTR.

I recommend a message you can copy and paste

Apartment data is very good for BFR.BTR more resilient to flat rental growth.Fundamentals of BFR are normalizing.Look at supply coming into any market you are developing.Look at yields that are accretive to debt.Investors in 2021 and 2022 looking at just yields and not market value of their assets.