Same thought could apply to DIY tax preparers :D 

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.

We build kit homes and log cabins in VA and W.

If it’s a DIY, then I guess you would either have to check yourself or hire a contractor to have a look.

Welcome to BP community Shalu K.  It

In many years of doing this, I've yet to come across a single DIY landlord that has a checklist or a process to ensure their rentals are up to code, safe, clean, and rent-ready. 

.- Engineer based CSS is usually expensive for SFR’s and properties under 1Mil, and IMO, not cost effective – but there are DIY solutions that provide solid alternative for a fraction of the cost (look into KBKG.com – they have a good tool for a very decent price + tutorials, once you get hang of the principle and how to use their calculators, it takes 20min to complete a CSS report) – and that’s the path I recommend. - If you’ll be able to take advantage of the big initial depreciation to shift taxes (to count it against your W2 income) depends on several factors – if your AGI less than 100K, and prorated up to 150K; your profession or if you or your wife can qualify as real estate professional, your documentation – if you maintain contemporaneous logs, etc.).

I've used many third party platforms in the past including zillow, rentredi here and find Turbotenant is the best platform to use for DIY landlords in terms of easy to use, least or no technical glitches and most affordable (you can use it completely free if you want to, I use the paid version for some added extra services and even the paid version is extremely affordable - $99 a year). 

And he still diy's his own house repairs at 82 yo. 

Otherwise, if the owner wants to DIY or just change for the sake of change, a reasonable termination fee should be expected.