From what I’ve learned, investors often use a percentage of gross rental income as a baseline—usually around 10-15%—to estimate maintenance and repairs. 

I would not borrow from ANY lender I learned of over the internet unless I knwe personally people who had used them. 

Learn of course, but many of us have purchased properties throughout our career without "iron clad" veils and have done just fine.  

I'm an asset-based (hard money) lender from Atlanta with an extensive 15-yr background in residential and commercial real estate looking to learn more from the BP community and how I can help those that need investment financing. 

One thing I've learned from my experience is that I do not set hard rules.

that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

@Jared FisherRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

It's an amazing place to learn and grow in real estate.

I'm in the process of all my research and just want to learn all I can so the more information I can find, the better. 

I have no doubt that I would learn any new avenues quickly considering my current experience, but I would still be taking a step backwards for the time being.