I'll second @Chad Lopes regarding hiring a PM, since managing a rental from another state can be tricky for even experienced investors.I wrote a post a while back about the zip codes we like for our B/B+ (and sometimes A if we can score a deal) investments, so perhaps that would be helpful to you:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/22…As with most markets, Bham can change block to block, so it behooves you to visit the market and meet the people you'd be working with (whether turnkey or a self-assembled team of agent, contractor, PM etc) face to face.

Some are alright but in a lot of cash flow areas you can easily run into people who wont accept anyone with less than a 620 credit score or less which will lead to a 3 to 6 month vacancy or someone who will accept anyone without screening which will lead to evictions which will also be very costly.  

@Diane Kruse , Write down your requirements, post them in the ad, and stick to them.What is your credit score threshold?

They also provide fees and modeling based on down-payment, credit score etc. 

This cost along with additional repairs really hurt the expected cash flow.Property Management Managing it myself Required Rental InsuranceSites that brought me leads: Zillow Rental Manager (Zillow, HotPads, Trulia)Cozy (Doorsteps, Realtor.com, Cozy)Zumper (Realtor.com, Walk Score, Padmapper)Do no use Rentals.com I paid $50 for a month and got zero leads.

I have no debt (besides nominal credit card expenditures which are paid off at the end of the month), 786 credit score, plenty of money for a down payment and reserves but what are my other options to getting a loan?

The house appraised at 142k, the current loan on property 57K, tittle and ownership is under LLC but willing to switch to personal name if the deal is good . my credit score is on the 680 mid range.   

Most hard money lenders will pull credit for fraud, but won't deny based on credit score.

The tenant pool in that area will mostly be high risk, high maintenance (low credit scores). 

I'm currently interested in buying a duplex (Bay Area ) for investment, My credit score is 760.