However, that cost to get into one could definitely kill this strategy (at least where you currently live).Since the numbers make sense for SFR (make sure you check occupancy too), this seems like a great way to generate some extra income from your current home.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it.We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

Should we just collect a little extra each month until they have submitted the full last month's rent (and of course have the specific payments and what they're for outlined in the lease)? 

In this hot market it seems like this makes the most sense, correct me if im wrong but the value in the quality of materials and brand new everything is probably worth the extra money in the long run.

For example, you could see a property on Zillow that pulls great numbers based on the Airbnbs nearby, but all of the Airbnbs have pools and yours doesn't (which will cost you an extra $50-100k on top of the purchase price).

Originally I was looking at a cash out refi to pull extra cash for other projects.

Personally, I favor the STR route due to the extra cashflow, but it's easier when you're local and can self manage.

So we had to bring extra cash to the closing.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it.We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

Unfortunately it's an extra $40/set per month!