How is the Poconos compared to these markets?

The rate may appear higher, but when you consider how much money you pay interest on, and how quickly you can pay down a line of credit safely compared to a loan, it's a no brainer.Otherwise, with refinancing, don't worry about who you go with.

Reason I was thinking of a 2 bedroom condo, is to pay cash for it and have less of a headache compared to dealing with an old building.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

Neither got the deal in that case, but if two offers are otherwise comparable, who knows, maybe $200 worth of pizza could be the differentiating factor.

Sorry I don't have any insight into the NoVA Section 8 market but I know the approved rents in the District are extremely high but I do have a question that will hopefully help you out as well...Does the DC Housing Authority do a market analysis on comparable rentals in the area before they agree to pay the amount listed on the website or are the rent amounts listed on the DC Housing Authority what investors are typically getting? 

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

It can still be of value to run, but generally you need comparable sales.

They use this sales data to determine the tax assessed value of the homes and comparable homes.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.