What measures would I take and how would I protect myself from this happening?

His safety is the priority. 

They do great work.One note, when I used him, I came in with my drawings and measurements of my house and he gave me a basic price.

Read this book - https://www.amazon.com/Every-Landlords-Property-Protection-Guide/dp/1413307000 - before getting into more complicated and expensive measures of protection.

I measured the rough in as seen below.

"for $___/year, we provide "x" additional inspections")6) Liability policy that covers tenant intentional damage, criminal acts, and unpaid rent when skipped or evicted (through insurance provider that provides this kind of coverage)7) Financial reports per quarter (as whatever period makes sense to you) (this can allow you to advise the owner on the health of their portfolio)8) End-of-year review of the property to show conditions and suggested needed and preventative maintenance items 9) Preferred vendor discounts (requires a contract with a vendor to give better pricing)10) Eviction protection programs (this is usually done "in house" when you have sufficient number of units under your management to be able to offer this kind of program)11) Legal services (requires agreement with landlord attorney to provide those services at set fees)12) Professional photos option (for enhanced listing)13) Professional, licensed home inspection (this is more relevant for older homes to ensure safety and habitability are addressed) 14) HVAC filter replacement program (this can also be a program offered to tenants)15) Pet and ESA screening through pet screening vendor (helps to streamline and increase quality of screening)16) Client portal account for ease of communication, updates, reports, etc.

I am willing to invest in renovating the place to reach profitability.What I am looking for: - Decent margin of safety as opposed to highest yield possible.- Low operational cost- Good seasonality markets- Should be easier to operationalize service via property managers remotely.What are some of the strategies that have worked?

Just make sure to take your time and double-check your measurements as you go along.

What I see is there are many people from abroad who just want to park money here vs their home country due to inflation or some other reason who are willing to take minimal returns in exchange for principal safety. 

To take measure of self, to learn and improve from "education via pain".