And I think it's a good idea working with a non-investor agent when you are remote. 

It looks like you've been located in Albuquerque so are you doing this remotely to buy and purchase your investment property?

The biggest thing for STR is having reliable cleaning crew, everything else is electronic and can be done remote.

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.

Have you considered a remote access thermostat so you can see what the temperature is when she is complaining vs what she set it at. 

It provides better wifi coverage for the whole building and I can check on it remotely (even reset it) using an app.

My wife and I both work remotely from Central Valley CA and would like to visit family in SoCal on a regular basis and an STR would be wonderful to stay in that we also own. 

In addition to general preference to STRs, COVID accelerated remote work and baby boomers moving to scenic, rural areasBoth of those trends I think are a boon for regional STR travel in the long-run and reason to be bullishRelated to remote work, startups are now spending more on Airbnb than offices. 

Now that so many are working remotely, people are leaving expensive areas like San Diego in favor of lower tax and lower cost of living areas. 

You’ll find plenty of friendly, knowledgeable people willing to respond to your posts.There are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guidesI really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that might interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts