I'm hoping to close on my first rental property in two weeks...fun times ahead :-).

Please offer examples besides visiting the area and neighborhood scout.

the solution is better tenant screening. do it yourself if you don't believe your property manager can do it 100% to your satisfaction. either you or your property mgr should meet the lead paint tester and accompany them to the rental properties with copy of the keys to let them in. put your tenants on notice ahead of time. if you don't have a license to rent then you can't rent and that means automatic eviction, imho. make it clear to your tenants.

Disclaimer ahead of time: not a lawyer, this is not to be taken as legal advice.That said: this all boils down to common law.If I want to sell you my shirt no one can tell me I need a license to do so.

;-The Days on Market (DOM) figure for single-family homes dropped from 58 to 40;-Total property sales rose 58.3 percent with 11,348 units sold;-Total dollar volume increased 85.9 percent to about $4.0 billion;-The single-family average price reached a record high, rising 20.0 percent to $371,854; -The single-family median price climbed 17.6 percent to $295,000 – also a record high; -Single-family homes months of inventory registered an historic low 1.4-months supply, down from 3.4 months year-over-year and below the national inventory of 2.1 months;-On a year-to-date basis, single-family homes sales are running 24.4 percent ahead of 2020’s record pace.

I totally agree on holding onto your property...lessons learned, but there is much more opportunity ahead ;) 

When I don't have tenant , I'd like to keep that as a nice guest house/places for my parents to stay if they visit.

You can be visited by the Atty General if you are cheating "vulnerable" sellers (foreclosures, handicapped, veterans, elderly and anyone else the Atty General deems vulnerable)      13.

or any special tips/advice on getting a message to the owner, who obviously does not live there anymore, or possibly does not visit the property anymore.  

Then when you get some money rolling in and maybe a second property go ahead and open one.